April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.

This wry observation is commonly attributed to Mark Twain in connection with April Fools’ Day, the annual occasion for practical jokes and hoaxes on April 1. In Twain’s satirical vein, the line treats the holiday not as an exception but as a moment of self-recognition: a day when society openly acknowledges its susceptibility to being fooled. The quotation circulates widely in later collections and epigraphs about April Fools’ Day, but it is often presented without surrounding text or a clear first publication venue, suggesting it may have been excerpted early from a brief remark, notebook entry, or a secondary compilation rather than a readily traceable speech or essay.

Twain’s epigram turns April Fools’ Day into a bleakly comic moral mirror. The joke is that the holiday does not create foolishness; it merely highlights a condition that persists year-round. By framing the other days as the “real” measure of our character, Twain satirizes human self-importance and the ease with which people excuse their own credulity, vanity, and irrationality. The line’s dry calendar precision (“three hundred and sixty-four”) heightens the sting: folly is not an exception but the norm. It’s a compact example of Twain’s broader skepticism about human nature and social pretenses.