Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR per G.G., CHIEF OF ORDNANCE
Interpretation
Mark Twain humorously warns against overanalyzing narratives.
In this quote, Mark Twain satirically suggests that those who seek deeper meanings, morals, or plots in his stories should expect dire consequences. It reflects his belief in the absurdity of searching for structure or lessons where none were intended, emphasizing the playful and often nonsensical nature of storytelling.
In practice
This quote could be used to lighten the mood in a writing workshop by emphasizing the joy of creativity over the weight of critique.
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.
Seamen have a custom, when they meet a whale, to fling him out an empty tub by way of amusement, to divert him from laying violent hands upon the ship.
Epitaph for a dead waiter - God finally caught his eye.
Americans adore me and will go on adoring me until I say something nice about them.
I remember when the candle shop burned down. Everyone stood around singing 'Happy Birthday.'
"Multiple exclamation marks," he went on, shaking his head, "are a sure sign of a diseased mind."
I've been doing comedy longer than I haven't been doing comedy, as I was performing for three years before I even got on 'The Tonight Show.' There's truly nothing like it; it's intense and exhilarating, even though it looks so casual.
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