14 Mark Twain Quotes on Communication

Mark Twain quotes on communication

25. The difference between the right word and the almost right word is really a large matter - it's the difference between a lightning bug and the lightning.

63. They spell it 'Vinci' and pronounce it 'Vinchy'. Foreigners always spell better than they pronounce.

66. Guides cannot master the subtleties of the American joke.

67. In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.

72. The minister gave out his text and droned along monotonously through an argument that was so prosy that many a head by and by began to nod - and yet it was an argument that dealt in limitless fire and brimstone and thinned the predestined elect down to a company so small as to be hardly worth the saving.

134. Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing.

153. A lie can make it half way around the world before the truth has time to put its boots on. (This has also been attributed to Winston Churchill.)

154. 'I once sent a telegram to 12 of my friends saying ALL IS DISCOVERED - FLEE AT ONCE. They all left town immediately.

178. Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can read.

184. Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

189. There are no dialogues, only intersecting monologues.

207. I'm sorry this letter is so long, but I did not have time to make it shorter.

210. Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

     Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

213. It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.