“Don’t put off until tomorrow what can just as well be put off until the day after tomorrow.”
Mark Twain took a piece of received wisdom that everyone already knew. Then he turned it completely inside out. The original saying, “What you can do today, don’t put off until tomorrow,” is one of the most repeated phrases in history. Twain looked at it and decided it needed an argument.
The result is funnier than it should be. He’s also more honest than most people let on.
What does this mean
On the surface, the quote is a joke about procrastination. Twain not only admits to procrastinating. He builds a philosophical case for it. If something can wait until tomorrow and tomorrow it can wait another day. Maybe the urgency was never real.
Beneath the comedy lies a serious thought. Not everything that is urgent really is. People expend enormous amounts of energy rushing through tasks that don’t need to be rushed. Twain asks a simple question. If it can wait, why pretend it can’t?
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He’s also making fun of himself, of course. Twain was a legendary procrastinator. He knew exactly what he was describing. The quote comes from lived experience, not theory.
Where does it come from?
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835 in Missouri. He became one of the greatest American writers in history. His work includes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also one of the best humorists that English has ever produced.
Mark Twain used humor like a surgeon uses a scalpel. First he made people laugh. Then he made them think. This quote follows an exact pattern. Laughter comes instantly. The thought comes a moment later.
He was known to miss deadlines throughout his writing career. He understood procrastination from within. This understanding makes the joke so pure.
Another view
Twain also said, “I have known many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
This accompanying line greatly deepens the original quote. Much of what people rush to complete is fueled by anxiety. They fear consequences that will never actually manifest.
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In this light, Twain’s philosophy of procrastination is partly an antidote to unnecessary worry. If you wait long enough, sometimes the problem will disappear completely.
Together, these two quotes suggest a man who has come to terms with his own rhythms. He wasn’t lazy. He was selective. There is a difference.
How to apply it today
1: Before acting with urgency, ask if the urgency is real. Many tasks are urgent because of anxiety, not because of actual deadlines. Distinguishing between the two is one of the most useful skills available to a busy person.
Takeaway 2: Not all procrastination is failure. Sometimes waiting reveals that the task was pointless. Sometimes it will give you more information so you can act better. Twain does not recommend paralysis. It recommends a distinction.
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Takeaway 3: Take yourself a little less seriously. Twain’s quote is a reminder that life doesn’t always reward the angriest person in the room. Sometimes the one who waited got the same result with half the stress.
The original saying says to act now. Twain’s version asks you to think first. Both have their place. The wisdom is to know which one applies today, or maybe the day after tomorrow.
Related reading
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer is perhaps the greatest fictional procrastinator in literature. The book is a joyous study of a boy who avoids everything he should be doing. Somehow it ends up exactly where it’s supposed to be.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
The Nobel Prize-winning psychologist examines why people make the decisions they do. The chapter on urgency bias is essential reading for anyone who has ever felt unnecessarily rushed.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Adams famously loved termites because of the screeching sound they made as they flew by. The book itself is a master class in using absurd humor to say something really true about human behavior.
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
A deeply honest book about time management that argues against the obsession with productivity. Burkeman’s centerpiece is a serious version of Twain’s joke.
