Mark Twain's Advice To Youth
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, later known as Mark Twain, November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910, was born in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri, the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. An adventurer and intellectual, Mark Twain wrote the classic American novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . His works are often marked by astute observations and witty comments. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, humorist, entrepreneur and inventor. In the following essay, a talk he delivered to a group of girls, he adopts a pragmatic approach unlike conventional moral lectures ridden with clichéd adages and platitudes. B eing 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. Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction...