Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“Consider well the proportions of things. It is better to be a young June-bug than an old bird of paradise.”
- Date
- 1894
- Local voice
- Epigraph / fictional source voice · Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar
Meaning of “Consider well the proportions of things. It is…”
The absurd comparison makes a serious point about proportion and stage of life: impressive status is not automatically preferable when age or circumstance changes what can actually be enjoyed.
Where does it come from?
Pudd’nhead Wilson, Calendar epigraph paired with the friendship maxim before the next narrative section.
Why the local voice matters
Twain presents this wording as a chapter-epigraph Calendar maxim. The Calendar is a fictional framing device / source voice rather than uncomplicated autobiography by Twain.
