"The Autobiography of Mark Twain" is the autobiography of Mark Twain, the undisputed genius storyteller. Even now, half a century after its publication, it is still called one of the "100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century" and is consistently read in the English-speaking world. This autobiography, edited by Charles Nader, is a masterpiece.

Unlike typical autobiographies, Mark Twain did not write his manuscript systematically with chronological order in mind, but rather wrote based on anecdotes that came to him from day to day. Therefore, even after passing through the editor's hands, his autobiography was not organized in perfect chronological order.
However, the anecdotal writing has the advantage of allowing each anecdote to be described and narrated more vividly, and this structure is perceived as unique, like the freedom of the author Mark Twain.


Mark Twain's masterful side, fully demonstrated in his autobiography, is humor, satire, and paradox.
This is an autobiography that allows you to feel Mark Twain's humanity, which is not light or vulgar humor, but rather a philosophy of humor and a free spirit's pride that is not bound by anything, through nonsensical paradoxes.

Finally, a proper method for writing an 'autobiography' has occurred to me.
It is not about starting at a specific point in life, but about wandering through life, guided by free will. ---p.14

My intention with my autobiography is that, when it is published after my death, it will serve as a model for all future autobiographies. ---p.15

Howells asked if I intended to make the autobiography into a series.
I intended to do so, but I said that if I lived long enough, the number of volumes of my autobiography would be so great that it would fill a city and require state intervention, and that no billionaire would have the luxury of buying the complete works without paying in installments during his lifetime. ---p.16

When I was younger, I could remember anything that happened, whether it actually happened or not.
But now our brain functions are gradually declining, and soon we will only remember things that never happened.
This kind of decline is a sad thing, but it will come to us all someday. ---p.55-56

Since Bliss is dead, I can't resolve the issue of him scamming me for 10 years.
…my bitter feelings towards him gradually faded and disappeared.
I only feel pity.
But if I could send a fan to fan the flames of hell even more, I would do so. ---p.341

It was about halfway through The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
When I had written about 400 pages of the manuscript, the story suddenly stopped and refused to move forward.
Even as the days changed, the situation remained the same.
I was discouraged, troubled, and endlessly appalled.
…the reason was simple.
The tank was depleted.
…I left the manuscript in a corner of my desk for two years, and then one day I took it out and read the last part.
At that time, I made the astonishing discovery that the tank, which had been dry, would fill up again on its own just by leaving it alone.
…I was then so well-stocked with material that I could continue writing, and so I was able to complete The Adventures of Tom Sawyer without any difficulty.
Since then, whenever I'm writing a book and my tank is running low, I don't hesitate and just push the manuscript to a corner.
Because I know full well that within two or three years, the tank will be filled again without any effort, and I can complete the work easily and simply. ---p.384

From the time my father died on March 24, 1847, when I was over eleven years old, until the end of 1856, I worked unsteadily, grumbling and shivering, when no one was watching.
If you look at the records, I worked like this for about 10 years.
I'm almost 73 now and I believe I haven't done anything since then.
Except for the two or three years I spent lazily working as a reporter in a Pacific coast city with a great and honorable name.
If so, it would be practically correct to say that when I ran away from the printing house fifty years ago, I ceased to be a worker forever.
…because writing books and magazines has always been play, never work.
I enjoyed this as if it were billiards. ---p.411-412

It is my belief that a person's temperament is an indomitable law and should be respected even if no one agrees.
…some human beings have so few evil traits that they are undetectable, while others have noble traits that stand out.
Then we praise that person for that great trait.
It can't be anything but funny.
The person did not create the characteristics he possessed, nor did he build them up within himself.
Because that characteristic is a law given to him by God, he cannot help but submit to it no matter how much he struggles.
Sometimes there are born killers or villains.
People of the world pour all kinds of criticism on them.
But they too were merely obeying the laws of their own nature.
Even if you had tried to rebel, you would have failed.
…it is my conviction that the human race is not a suitable target for harsh words and bitter criticism, but rather that the most justifiable emotion appropriate to human beings is pity.
Because humans neither created nor planned their own weaknesses and follies. ---p.426

At a banquet hosted by a group called the "End of the World Club" last winter, the chairman, a retired senior military officer, declared in a loud, passionate voice: "We are Anglo-Saxons."
“Anglo-Saxons just take what they want,” he declared.
…to translate this soldier's great words into plain English, the British and Americans are thieves, robbers, and pirates.
We are proud of what we have brought together.”
Of all the British and Americans present, not one had the decency to stand up and say that he was ashamed of being Anglo-Saxon and of being a member of the human race. ---p.459-460

For a long, long time, once a year, without fail, I have felt a sharp pain from an old wound buried deep in my heart.
…I know, informally, that I have been the most widely popular literary figure produced in America for a generation.
It is also unofficially well known that throughout that period, the novelist occupied an unrivaled position at the top of his profession.
So, it was a yearly torment for me to witness American universities awarding 250 degrees to people of little consequence who would be forgotten in ten years, while not giving me a single degree! ---p.464-465

People think I'm weird because I wear white all summer and winter.
I am an odd person because I like to wear clean clothes in this dirty world.
…all clothes get dirty in one day.
It's as dirty as a person's hands would be if they went a day without washing them.
… it looks good to wear black attire at a banquet.
However, these suits are more like real estate than movable property.
We carry so much dust that we could plant seeds and grow crops here. ---p.491

Now Jin is lying over there and I am sitting here.
…while busily writing to keep my heart from breaking.
How dazzling is the sunlight pouring down from the surrounding hills! It seems as if it's mocking my misfortune.
74 years old 24 days ago, 74 years old yesterday.
Who can guess my age today?

---p.495