Mark Twain American Author and Humorist 1835-1910 The man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds. --Mark Twain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Samuel Langhorne Clemens (pen name Mark Twain) was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. Twain is considered the greatest humorist of 19th Century American literature. His novels and stories about the Mississippi River: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1894) are still popular with modern readers. In 1839 the Clemens …showed first 75 words of 449 total…

…showed last 75 words of 449 total…support a fundamental equality for people of all races. As Twain's life and career progressed he became increasingly pessimistic, losing much of the humorous, cocky tone of his earlier years. More and more of his work expressed the gloomy view that all human motives are ultimately selfish. Even so Twain is best remembered as a humorist who used his sharp wit and comic exaggeration to attack the false pride and self-importance he saw in humanity.