Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
We wish to learn all the curious, outlandish ways of all the different countries, so that we can "show off" and astonish people when we get home. We wish to excite the envy of our untraveled friends with our strange foreign fashions which we can't shake off.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a desire to travel and learn about other cultures primarily for the sake of impressing others.
Mark Twain's quote highlights the human tendency to seek out experiences and knowledge that may stand out to others. It suggests that part of our motivation for exploring new cultures and adopting foreign customs is not just for personal enrichment, but also to astonish those back home, showcasing our adventures with a hint of pride and envy-inducing novelty.
Themes
TravelCultureImpressionLearningFashions
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a travel blog to emphasize the joy of discovering new cultures.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes →The easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
Mark TwainRead
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
Mark TwainRead
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Mark TwainRead
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
Mark TwainRead
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.
Mark TwainRead
Similar quotes
The schools must fashion the person, and fashion him in such a way that he simply cannot will otherwise than what you wish him to will.
Johann Gottlieb FichteRead
The exercise of voluntary attention in the schoolroom must therefore be counted one of the most important points of training that take place there; and the first-rate teacher, by the keenness of the remoter interests which he is able to awaken, will provide abundant opportunities for its occurrence.
William JamesRead
I trust the readers to build their own visual images. To me, that's part of the wonder of reading.
Michael ConnellyRead
Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.
Walt DisneyRead
You had to get everything exactly right or the editors would give you hell.
Kurt VonnegutRead
I think people who write for kids, we have that ability to go back into our own lives.
Judy BlumeRead