banner

Directory of Mark Twain's maxims, quotations, and various opinions:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


SELF APPROVAL

...we have smuggled a word into the dictionary which ought not to be there at all--Self-Sacrifice. It describes a thing which does not exist... We ignore and never mention the Sole Impulse which dictates and compels a man's every act: the imperious necessity of securing his own approval, in every emergency and at all costs.
- What is Man?
Wiegand bronze
"Mark Twain Writing in Bed"
by Don. F. Wiegand of
Chesterfield, MO.,1985.
Photo from the Dave Thomson collection.

What do you call love, hate, charity, revenge, humanity, magnanimity, forgiveness? Different results of the one master impulse: the necessity of securing one's self-approval.
- What is Man?

A man will do anything, no matter what it is, to secure his spiritual comfort...A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
- What is Man?

banner logo

Quotations | Newspaper Articles | Special Features | Links | Search