Mark Twain Quotes

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Incompetence is certainty in the absence of expertise. Overconfidence is certainty in the presence of expertise.

You try to tell me anything about the newspaper business! Sir, I have been through it from Alpha to Omaha, and I tell you that the less a man knows the bigger the noise he makes and the higher the salary he commands.

I come armed with a really good ignorance. I don't strive toward ignorance. I come by it naturally.

You'll find that empty vessels make the most sound.

Folks don't like to have somebody around knowing more than they do.

It is a tragedy of the world that no one knows what he doesn't know - the less a man knows, the more sure it is that he knows everything.

I only know about a few things, but I am quite good at bluffing. There are a whole range of subjects, including the Renaissance, which I am prepared to sound expert on.

The least learned, for the most part, have been always most ready to write.

I've always found it funny in life when you meet people who are incredibly stupid and incredibly confident at the same time. Actually, there is nothing funnier. I mean, Donald Trump is a perfect example: he's essentially a seven-year-old on a podium.

Talent always shouts at you.

As with narrow-necked bottles; the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring out.

You may have noticed that the less I know about a subject the more confidence I have, and the more new light I throw on it.

Politics is so difficult, it's generally only people who aren't quite up to the task who feel convinced they are.

Ignorance sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It's only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.

Confidence is ignorance. If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know.

I try to get rid of people who always confidently answer questions about which they don't have any real knowledge.

The most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticized.

I forgot more than you'll ever know.

It is also true that the less competent a person is in a given domain, the more he will tend to overestimate his abilities. This often produces an ugly marriage of confidence and ignorance that is very difficult to correct for.

I admire the assurance and confidence everyone has in himself, whereas there is hardly anything I am sure I know or that I dare give my word I can do.

When people are least sure, they are often most dogmatic.

In other words, the more stupid one is, the more he thinks he knows.

Crowds stand around all day long and criticise that bridge, and find fault with it, and tell with unlimited frankness how it ought to have been planned, and how they would have built it had the city granted them the $14,000 it cost. It is really refreshing to hang around these and listen to them. A foreigner would come to the conclusion that all America was composed of inspired professional bridge builders.

And the ultimate thing is, I may not be the expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.