"Tom said to himself that it was..." - Quote by Mark Twain

Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it -- namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.
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More by Mark Twain

“What a lie it is to call this a free country, where none but the unworthy and undeserving may swear.”
— Mark Twain
“If true, rarely beautiful. If beautiful, rarely true.”
— Mark Twain
“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
— Mark Twain

More on Human Nature

“One Man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than every body else.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“Desires are only the lack of something: and those who have the greatest desires are in a worse condition than those who have none, or very slight ones.”
— Plato
“Human beings are the only creatures who blush - or who need to.”
— Mark Twain

More on Desire

“The main cause of suffering is egoistic desire for one's own comfort and happiness.”
— Dalai Lama
“Lessen selfishness and restrain desires.”
— Lao Tzu
“Let go of the oars... Everything you want is downstream.”
— Esther Hicks