Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Supposing is good, but finding out is better.
Interpretation
It's better to seek the truth than to make assumptions.
This quote emphasizes the importance of discovery and learning over mere speculation. Mark Twain suggests that while it's natural to make assumptions about situations or people, the pursuit of knowledge and understanding yields far greater rewards and clarity.
In practice
During a team meeting, you might use this quote to encourage colleagues to verify facts instead of making guesses.
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.
I suppose no one is as handsome or as beautiful as he or she wishes, or as brilliant in school or as witty in speech or as wealthy as we would like, but in a world of varied talents and fortunes that we can't always command, I think that makes even more attractive the qualities we can command--such qualities as thoughtfulness, patience, a kind word, and true delight in the accomplishment of another. These cost us nothing, and they can mean everything to the one who receives them.
It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure.
Some people go to bed at night thinking, 'That was a good day.' I am one of those who worries and asks, 'How did I screw up today?'
Why is discipline important? Discipline teaches us to operate by principle rather than desire. Saying no to our impulses (even the ones that are not inherently sinful) puts us in control of our appetites rather than vice versa. It deposes our lust and permits truth, virtue, and integrity to rule our minds instead.
We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why. Not until the future eats the present, anyway. We know when it's too late.
Self-denial is the test and definition of self-government.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.