Mark Twain
Overview
 
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the Town of "St...

(1876), and its sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...

(1885), the latter often called "the Great American Novel
Great American Novel
The "Great American Novel" is the concept of a novel that is distinguished in both craft and theme as being the most accurate representative of the zeitgeist in the United States at the time of its writing. It is presumed to be written by an American author who is knowledgeable about the state,...

."

Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal is a city in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Hannibal is located at the intersection of Interstate 72 and U.S. Routes 24, 36 and 61, approximately northwest of St. Louis. According to the 2010 U.S. Census the population was 17,606...

, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer.
Quotations

I don't see no p'ints about that frog that's any better'n any other frog.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County|The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865).

I haven't a particle of confidence in a man who has no redeeming petty vices.

"Answers to Correspondents" (1865), reported in Early Tales & Sketches, v.2, 1864-1865, Branch and Hirst, ed. (1981).

Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run.

The Facts Concerning the Recent Resignation (1867).

"In the beginning of a change the PATRIOT is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot" (1904)

Tomorrow night I appear for the first time before a Boston audience — 4000 critics.

Letter to Pamela Clemens Moffet (November 9, 1869).

A crowded police docket is the surest of all signs that trade is brisk and money plenty.

Roughing It|Roughing It (published 1872).

Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough.

A Mysterious Visit (1875).

This poor little one-horse town.

The Undertaker's Chat (1875).

A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother.

Letter to Annie Webster (September 1, 1876).

 
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