Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
I have been on the verge of being an angel all my life, but it's never happened yet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects a conflict between aspiration and reality, highlighting an unfulfilled potential for goodness.
Mark Twain's quote illustrates the tension between one's aspirations and the realities of life. It suggests that while one may strive for a virtuous or saintly existence, the complexities of life often prevent the full realization of that ideal. The idea of being 'on the verge of being an angel' conveys a sense of longing for purity and goodness, yet a recognition that such a state remains unattainable, which resonates with the human experience of imperfection and the struggle against one's limitations.
Themes
AspirationPotentialGoodnessLifeConflict
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about self-improvement and striving for excellence.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes βThe 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.
Mark TwainRead
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
Mark TwainRead
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Mark TwainRead
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
Mark TwainRead
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.
Mark TwainRead
Similar quotes
The apartment was built at the edge of a high cliff so that when you looked out the back window it seemed as if you were twelve floors up instead of four. It was very much like living on the edge of the world - a last resting place before the final big drop.
Charles BukowskiRead
One is not righteous who does much, but the one who, without work, believes much in Christ. The law says, 'Do this,' and it is never done. Grace says, 'Believe in this,' and everything is already done.
Martin LutherRead
How long had he been doing what was necessary instead of what was right? In a fair world they would be one and the same.
Robert JordanRead
Ending poverty calls for humility, honesty, freedom from ideology and refusal to accept cruel simplicities about anyone's human potential. It requires listening to the wisdom and cutting the nonsense from both the Right and the Left.
Donella MeadowsRead
The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter...we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.
James JeansRead
If you own a gun and have a swimming pool in the yard, the swimming pool is almost 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.
Steven LevittRead