New Delhi, April 29 -- "Do not put off until tomorrow what can be put off till day-after-tomorrow just as well."

Mark Twain took a piece of received wisdom that everybody already knew. Then he turned it completely inside out. The original saying, "Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today," is one of the most repeated lines in history. Twain looked at it and decided it needed an argument.

The result is funnier than it has any right to be. It is also more honest than most people are comfortable admitting.

On the surface, the quote is a joke about procrastination. Twain is not just admitting he procrastinates. He is building a philosophical case for it. If something can wait until tomorrow, and tomorrow it can wait one more day...