Final Reading Reflection-Mark Twain

I throughly enjoyed reading The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain. My only exposure to Mark Twain was during my junior year of high school in my English class when we read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and to be honest I didn't think it was very enjoyable. However, I feel like I would appreciate the novel more now, and I would really enjoy to read more of Mark Twain's works. Based on these quotes compiled by Alex Ayres, Mark Twain was quite a character. 

When I began reading this book I was expecting all of the quotes to be laugh out loud funny, so it surprised me how serious and wise Mark Twain was regarding many issues. The book was filled with many funny quotes too, and I did crack up a couple of times at his quick wit. In his Compliments section (pg 45), I loved the section that said...
     "There is nothing you can say in answer to a compliment," said a blushing Mark Twain 
     after a complimentary introduction to a crowd in Jamestown, Virginia. "I have been 
     complimented myself a great many times, and they always embarrass me-I always feel
     they have not said enough."
The cognitive shift, dare I say it, made me chuckle because personally I was expecting Mark Twain to respond with "they always embarrass me-I always feel they have said too much." However Twain throws his complementer and the crowd for a loop when he responds in such a manner, and I'm sure they responded with laughter. 

I also laughed during the Bicycling section of the book (pg 24-25) at Mark Twain's claim that "he invented all the new bicycle profanity that has since come into general use." Even though he was 49 years old, he still pushed himself to learn new things (in this case, how to ride a bike), even though his instructor "regarded him as a hopeless case." In his essay "Taming the Bicycle," Mark Twain said, "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live." Picturing a middle-aged Twain falling off of his bicycle humored me.

In particular, the Bravery, Cheer, Children, Heart, and Joy sections made me appreciate Mark Twain for his wisdom. He had many great things to say about these particular topics. 

Being a quote person, this has been one of my favorite reading assignments this semester, and I definitely think that future students should be exposed to Mark Twain's wit and wisdom!