BE YOURSELF

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
One who is satisfied to be himself loses the opportunity to improve himself, that is to become
more like I am.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
The problem with being yourself is that you might find out who you really are.

TRUTH

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
An author who confines himself to truth becomes ever a slave of the past and never the creator of the future.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
The man who tells only the truth is likely to wind up in jail, or divorced, or both. 

ON TELLING THE TRUTH

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES: 

Telling the truth, unlike relating lies, requires only a memory and neither creativity nor consideration of one’s audience. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS:

Telling the truth, unlike relating lies, requires only a memory and neither creativity nor consideration of one’s audience. 

ON: WRITING SUBJECTS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
An author need not be restricted to what he knows, lest he be inhibited by a boring reality.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
Writing on what you knows enables you to be clear when you are lying as opposed to simply being wrong.  

ON: CONSCIENCE (3)

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
A clear conscience is a certain sign off a failing memory.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
A clear conscience is evidence of a very dull life.  

ON: CONSCIENCE (2)

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
A clear conscience is often the result of a lack of desire,

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
A clear conscience is usually the result of a low standard of satisfaction.

ON: CONSCIENCE (1)

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
An easy conscience is often the result of an infinitely adjustable ethical standard.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
The best proof of evolution is how our consciences become more tolerant as our vices become easier.  

ON: HISTORY

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
When we read historical events which are not reproduced in our experiences we feel either relief or envy, 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
History is a collection of lies, organized by politicians to convince us that they are not so bad. 

ON: BEING ALONE

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
One advantage of a justified conceit is that it removes the sting from being alone. 

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
I don't mind being alone, as long as someone else is there doing the same thing.  

ON: ANALYSIS OF ART

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
To analyze art excessively is to attempt to reduce it to science; to analyze too little is to reduce it to 
mere sensation.  

ON: ART AND ARTIST

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
An artist who declines to expose his work to critics is a coward.  An artist who creates to please critics is a traitor.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
The only proper thing to do with fine art is to inherit, and then immediately sell it.

ON: AGING

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES

Age brings wisdom but removes memory. Whether this is a net benefit or not is for each man to decide.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS

I used to know which it is, but I forgot. 

ON: AUTHORS

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
The effective author can create the extraordinary from the merely absurd.  

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
The successful author is the one who convinces the buyer that his book is worth buying, even if never read.  

ON: WOMAN'S SUSPICION

OSCAR WILDE OBSERVES
It is not suspicious behavior but unexplained acts of affection that induce suspicion in a woman.

MARK TWAIN REMARKS
Does this mean that indifference makes a woman secure?