A cracked glass teacup glows along golden fractures beside a metal thimble and a small faded rose.

Original artwork, not a still

Following the Equator

Mark Twain

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker wishes that the lines of age would simply record where smiling has happened. Wrinkles become a map of past cheerfulness rather than a sign of decline. It is a gently witty hope that a life of laughter should leave a face marked by pleasure.

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