Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Nothing spoils a good story like the arrival of an eyewitness.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that the truth can often ruin a well-crafted narrative.
Mark Twain humorously points out that a compelling story can lose its charm when confronted with factual accuracy or real-life observation. Eyewitness accounts can bring in harsh truths that disrupt the imaginative power of storytelling, emphasizing the creative liberties often taken in narratives.
In practice
During a storytelling contest, one can use this quote to highlight the importance of imagination over factual accuracy.
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.
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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.
A fit of laughter, which has been indulged to excess, almost always produces a violent reaction.
I think we're all good and bad, but good's not funny. Bad is funny. Suppress the good and let the bad out, and then you can be funny.
There is nothing funny about Halloween. This sarcastic festival reflects, rather, an infernal demand for revenge by children on the adult world.
Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.
There were very few women comics when I started out doing stand-up. But I always saw that as a great advantage.
Humor is the best means of surviving in a difficult world.
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