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Meaning
This reads as a wry inversion of praise, where “honor” is attached to ignorance instead of achievement. It can be taken to mean that foolishness has been practiced so thoroughly it now deserves applause, which makes the line sting as satire. It lands when someone is being polished for a bad idea, or when a flattering system rewards the wrong thing.
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
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About Mark Twain
American writer, humorist, and essayist
Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He is best known for the novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and for a body of work that helped define American writing in the late 19th century. His books also include A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Pudd'nhead Wilson. He co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today with Charles Dudley Warner. Twain's work is marked by wit, social satire, and a sharp eye for American life.
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Explore Earth
- “For me, I've always believed that there was a God. I've always believed that God created the heavens and eart…”Ben Stein
- “America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to ha…”Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- “It never occurred to us that the Earth itself might have been unyielding”Toni Morrison
Education: more sayings
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Books by Mark Twain
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
One of his best-known novels.