Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.
Interpretation
This quote encourages people to actively divert their thoughts from negative experiences and troubles.
Mark Twain suggests that one should actively manage their thoughts and redirect them away from distressing matters. It emphasizes the idea that while troubles may be a part of life, we have the power to choose our focus and find relief by shifting our mindset, whether through deliberate effort or creativity.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage mental resilience.
Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
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.
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
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.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
You can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly ... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive.
Do not grieve over any joy that has gone forever, for it will return to you in another form, know that for sure.
I've come to the realisation that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing half the time...
In the search [of a deal], we adopt the same attitude one might find appropriate in looking for a spouse: It pays to be active, interested, and open-minded, but it does not pay to be in a hurry.
Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.
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