Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
You can't keep a juvenile moral institution alive on two displays of its sash per year.
Interpretation
Moral institutions require consistent support and engagement, not just occasional displays.
Mark Twain's quote highlights the importance of continuous commitment to moral principles and institutions, suggesting that sporadic efforts or displays of support are insufficient for their survival and effectiveness. It underscores the necessity for ongoing engagement and dedication to uphold moral standards in society, rather than relying solely on rare or superficial acts of affirmation.
In practice
During a community seminar on civic engagement, this quote can emphasize the need for ongoing participation in local issues.
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.
And thus I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named so that I would not build on another man's foundation.
A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life.
National events determine our ideals, as much as our ideals determine national events.
Language is the house of the truth of Being.
When you realize the real pleasure in food comes in the first couple bites, and it diminishes thereafter, that's a kind of reminder to focus on the experience, enjoy those first bites, and as you get into the 20th bite, you're talking calories and not pleasure.
And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.
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