Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Man proposes, but God blocks the game.
Interpretation
Humans make plans, but ultimately it is a higher power that decides the outcomes.
This quote by Mark Twain highlights the often unpredictable nature of life. While humans can set goals and make plans, there are circumstances and forces beyond our control that can alter our paths, reminding us of the limitations of our agency and the influence of fate or divine intervention.
In practice
In a speech about resilience, one might say, 'As Mark Twain once noted, 'Man proposes, but God blocks the game,' reminding us that we must adapt to lifeβs surprises.
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.
Any time the Western way of war can be unleashed on an enemy stupid enough to enter its arena, victory is assured.
Longing is a compass that guides us through life. We may never get what we really want, that's true, but every step along the way will be determined by it.
Tomorrow may never come to us. We do not live in tomorrow. We cannot find it in any of our title-deeds. The man who owns whole blocks of real estate, and great ships on the sea, does not own a single minute of tomorrow. Tomorrow! It is a mysterious possibility, not yet born. It lies under the seal of midnight-behind the veil of glittering constellations.
All the evolution we know of proceeds from the vague to the definite.
Homo sapiens, the only creature endowed with reason, is also the only creature to pin its existence on things unreasonable.
We live with a distinct double standard about male and female aggression. Women's aggression isn't considered real. It isn't dangerous; it's only cute. Or it's always self-defense or otherwise inspired by a man. In the rare case where a woman is seen as genuinely responsible, she is branded a monster - an 'unnatural' woman.
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