Mark Twain's Advice to the Young was a short essay he had been invited to write to the youth of the United States. It's mainly about some educationally helpful advice in life. What he said at that time is as correct as it is then, and we can also get a glimpse of life from it.
Being told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth-something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice.
When I was told that people wanted me to say a few words here, I asked them what I should say. They wanted me to say something that was suitable for young people—something doctrinal, educational, or good advice.
Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young; for it is in one's tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable. First, then. I will say to you my young friends-and I say it beseechingly, urgingly.
That's great! I have always wanted to give advice to young people, because when people are young, good advice is easy to take root in the heart and can be used for life. So, first of all, young friends, I want to warn you sincerely:
Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don't, they will make you.
Be sure to listen to your parents, which is the smartest thing to do in the long run, and if you don't obey, they will force you to obey.
Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition than you can by acting on your own better judgment.
Most parents think they know more than you guys, and in this case, instead of acting on your own judgment, it's better to cater to their ideas and you'll gain more.
Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient.
If you have superiors, respect them, and do the same for strangers and others. If someone has offended you and you don't know if he did it on purpose, don't go to extremes and wait for the right moment to give him a blow in the head.
If you shall find that he had not intended any offense, come out frankly and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didn't mean to.
If you find that he did not mean to hurt you, then you should stand up and confess what was being taught him; admit your mistakes like a man and explain that you did not intend to. And then again, don't use violence.
Yes, always avoid violence; in this age of charity and kindliness, the time has gone by for such things. Leave dynamite to the low and unrefined.
In this age of peace and friendship, violence is obsolete. Let us condemn these vulgar behaviors and smash the violence!
Go to bed early, get up early- this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark is really the best thing to get up with.
Go to bed early and get up early – that's wise. Some people take the initiative to get up, and some people are forced to get up. Of course, getting up to the song of the lark is the most pleasant.
It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every time-it's no trick at all.
You'll be praised when everyone knows you're in the morning with a lark, and if you get a favorite lark and train it as you wish, it's not going to be difficult for him to get up at half past nine, or even at any time—of course, that's not to say trickery.
Now as to the matter of lying, you want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught. Once caught, you can never again be in the eyes to the good and the pure, what you were before.
Now, let's talk about lying. If you want to lie, you have to be careful, otherwise it is easy to wear a gang. Once exposed, others no longer think that you are good and pure, and they see you as not the same person you used to be.
Many a young person has injured himself permanently through a single clumsy and ill finished lie, the result of carelessness born of incomplete training. Some authorities hold that the young ought not to lie at all.
Many young people have forever hurt themselves for a clumsy or incomplete lie because they are not cautious and untrained. Some people believe that young people can't lie.
That of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, and precision which alone can make the accomplishment graceful and profitable.
Of course, this is a bit extreme. I will not be so extreme, but always believe that I am justified, and I believe that young people should make proper use of this great art, and through training and practice, they will become confident, elegant and precise, and these will enable them to complete the task perfectly.
Patience, diligence, painstaking attention to detail-these are requirements; these in time, will make the student perfect; upon these only, may he rely as the sure foundation for future eminence.
Patience, diligence and careful scrutiny of details – are all conditions that young people must have. Over time, these elements will make you perfect, and you can only rely on these elements to achieve future glory.
Think what tedious years of study, thought, practice, experience, went to the equipment of that peerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world the lofty and sounding maxim that "Truth is mighty and will prevail the most majestic compound fracture of fact which any of man born has yet achieved.
Think of the incomparable master, whose years of dull study, thinking, practice, and practice enabled him to utter in front of the world the classic phrase "Truth has great power and will triumph over everything"—the greatest paradox, the highest state that mortals can attain.
For the history of our race, and each individual's experience, are sewn thick with evidences that a truth is not hard to kill, and that a lie well told is immortal. There is in Boston a monument of the man who discovered anesthesia; many people are aware, in these latter days, that that man didn't discover it at all, but stole the discovery from another man. Is this truth mighty, and will it prevail? Ah no, my hearers, the monument is made of hardy material, but the lie it tells will outlast it a million years.
Both history and personal experience have profoundly shown that truth is easy to overthrow, but brilliant lies can never be broken. Boston has a monument commemorating the inventor of anesthesia. But later, many people found out that this person was not the inventor of anesthesia at all, he was just stealing the work of others. Is the power of truth really powerful? Can it overcome everything? Oh no, friends, that monument was made of very strong materials, but the lies it tells will last a million years longer than the monument itself.
An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid; such a lie as that has no more real permanence than an average truth. Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it. A feeble, stupid, preposterous lie will not live two years except it be a slander upon somebody.
Clumsy, unconvincing and flawed lies that you should avoid through continuous learning are not as long as ordinary truths. Why, you still tell the truth, say it now. An unconvincing, ridiculous, absurd lie won't last two years —unless it's a slander against someone.
It is indestructible, then of course, but that is no merit of yours. A final word: begin your practice of this gracious and beautiful art early-begin now. If I had begun earlier, I could have learned how.
Sure, such lies are unbreakable, but they don't do you any good for your reputation. Bottom line: Practice this noble and beautiful art early – start now. If I had started early, I would have learned it by now.
There are many sorts of books; but good ones are the sort for the young to read. Remember that. They are a great, an inestimable, and unspeakable means of improvement. Therefore be careful in your selection, my young friends; be very careful; confine yourselves exclusively to Robertson's Sermons, Baxter's Saint's Rest, The Innocents Abroad, and works of that kind.
There are all kinds of books, but good books are suitable for young people to read. Remember, good books allow you to constantly improve yourself, and this force is powerful, immeasurable, and indescribable. Therefore, young friends, please choose your reading materials carefully, and be very careful. You should read Robertson's Moral Apocalypse, Baxter's The Rest of the Saints, and Fools Going Abroad.
But I have said enough. I hope you will treasure up the instructions which I have given you, and make them a guide to your feet and a light to your understanding. Build your character thoughtfully and painstakingly upon these precepts, and by and by, when you have got it built, you will be surprised and gratified to see how nicely and sharply it resembles everybody else's.
I've said enough. I hope that you will cherish these suggestions and let them be your guides and ignite the spark of your thoughts. Follow these tips to try to cultivate your own character. Slowly, once you have shaped your own character, you will be pleasantly surprised and relieved to find yourself so similar to others.