Samuel Langhorne Clemens, more commonly known by his pen name Mark Twain, was a great American author.

Twain is well-known for his novel, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” which some refer to as the “Great American Novel,” he’s also well-known for his novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” my personal favorite.

Twain was an extremely popular personality during his day; he made friends with presidents and even European royalty. Twain was a very witty fellow, his wit and satire earned him the respect of his friends as well as his enemies.

William Faulkner once called Mark Twain, “the father of American literature.” There are many things that we can learn from Mark Twain.

7 Must-Read Life Lessons From Mark Twain:

1. Ignorance and Confidence – A Winning Combination

“All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.”

You need enough ignorance to believe the impossible is possible, and enough confidence to turn the impossibility into a reality. The Wright Brothers were ignorant enough to think that man could fly, and confident enough to make it happen. Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, you have the ability to achieve.” Ignorance and confidence can truly be a winning combination.

2. Readers are Leaders

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.”

Plato said, “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.” Do you realize that you can read a book and learn in three hours what took someone 20 years to learn. You can literally pick someone’s brain through reading; you can pick knowledge, pick truth. Learn to cultivate the joy of reading.

3. First Things First

“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

The main thing is always to keep the main thing the main thing. Don’t become so consumed with being busy that for forget the main thing. You should always be asking yourself, “does this activity have to be done right now,” “is this the best use of my time,” “is this activity in alignment with my goals.” Learn to differentiate between productivity and progress every single hour of the day.

4. Fight

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

How much “fight” do you have in you? To succeed, to do what’s never been done before requires an enormous amount of fight, grit, and unrelenting tenacity. Do you have enough fight to finish the race? Remember, the race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the one who endures until the end.

5. The Power of Planning

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

That’s what I call planning! Never underestimate the power of a plan. A good plan is half the work. Success and failure is often determined by the possession of an actionable plan (even if that plan is for an impromptu speech).

An Example: If you find someone who keeps their body in peak condition, you’ll discover that they have a plan. They know exactly how many carbohydrates they will eat on Tuesday. They know exactly how many grams of protein they will take in on Friday.

Do you have a plan? You will only be as successful as your plan.

Planned lives are productive lives.

6. Be Courageous

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”

I love this quote. Are you mastering your fear? Are you doing what “they” say can’t be done. Are you facing your fears and conquering them. Life is too short to spend it running away from illusions. Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

7. Recognize Your Genius

“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.”

Everyone is born a genius, but only a few ever realize it. Everyone is born a genius, but the process of life deludes that genius.

Learn to tap into your genius, there’s something that you can do better than anyone else, discover it, pursue it, and we will call you a genius too.

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