Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "the Great American Novel."
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which became very popular and brought nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well received. Twain had found his calling.
He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
He lacked financial acumen, and though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.
Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."
Read more about Mark Twain: Early Life, Travels, Marriage and Children, Love of Science and Technology, Financial Troubles, Speaking Engagements, Later Life and Death, Friendship With Henry H. Rogers, Views, Pen Names, Honors, Depictions
Famous quotes by mark twain:
“Humor must not professedly teach and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910)
“Lump the whole thing! Say that the Creator made Italy from designs by Michael Angelo!”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910)
“Mark Twain didnt psychoanalyze Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer. Dickens didnt put Oliver Twist on the couch because he was hungry! Good copy comes out of people, Johnny, not out of a lot of explanatory medical terms.”
—Samuel Fuller (b. 1911)
“It grieves me to think how far more profound and reverent a respect the law would have for literature if a body could only get drunk on it.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910)
“The cayote is a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry. He is always poor, out of luck and friendless. The meanest creatures despise him, and even the fleas would desert him for a velocipede.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910)