Quote of the day by Mark Twain: “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions...."

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

Explanation: The author is implying that very often people who are not able to see potential in themselves will fail to see it in others. Whenever someone belittles other’s ideas or dreams, it is very unlikely to be about the other person and more to do with the speaker.

In some cases, they may see ambition as a threat to their own lost dreams and use belittlement to make themselves feel a little better. They might not hesitate to say things like it is too unrealistic or foolish to be realised.

However, true ambition is contagious. If one is talking to an ambitious person or one with those striving towards their goals, they are likely to make a person feel that their ideas are worth nurturing. With such people, greatness starts to feel achievable rather than impossible.

Hence, the author is suggesting that people we surround ourselves with play an important role in our success or failure.

About the author: Mark Twain (born 1835, Missouri) was a distinguished American novelist, essayist, journalist and literary critic. Having lost his father early in life, Twain was forced to start as a typesetter for local newspapers.

Spending his childhood along the Mississippi, Twain had opportunities for exploration and adventure.

Twain got his pilot’s license in 1859 and spent much time moving up and down the river. A large part of his life was marked by movement. His explorations and adventures during this period served as chronicles for some of his most celebrated work such as The Innocents Abroad (1869), Roughing It (1872) and Life on Mississippi (1883).

Among his most celebrated novels were The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885).

As a distinctive humourist and moralist, he also became a distinguished public figure.