Why is November the perfect month for Mark Twain quotes? Well first of all, it's the month we celebrate his birthday. It's also the time of year when those of us in the colder climates start to bunker down in front of the fireplace -- and that means the need for a good read. Here are 18 Mark Twain quotes to celebrate his birthday and warm your toes by.

1. "Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."

2. "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."

3. "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place."

4. "I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

5. "I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won't."

6. "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read."

7. "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure."

8. "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."

9. "Everything has its limit - iron ore cannot be educated into gold."

10. "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened."

11. "I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell - you see, I have friends in both places."

12. "Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved."

13. "Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others."

14. "There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded."

15. "The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice."

16. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

17. "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

18. "Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen."

Mark Twain was many things. A writer, a philosopher and maybe even a bit of a rebel. Let us remember this extraordinary man this November. Who he was, what he stood for and how he thought. These Mark Twain quotes are a wonderful way to remember him.