Tag: Mark Twain

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Quote of the Day – Mark Twain

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it” ~~ Mark Twain

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Quote of the Day – Mark Twain

“But the truth is, that when a Library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible lying around where unprotected youth and age can get hold of it, the deep unconscious irony of it delights me and doesn’t anger me.” ~~ Mark Twain in a  letter to Mrs. F. G. Whitmore, 7 February 1907

This was prompted by the removal of his book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the shelves of the children section of the Brooklyn Library – as I recall the story.  It might have been a different library, as it was banned from many.  The Brooklyn Library took issue with the use of sweat instead of perspire and from Huck itching and scratching all the time. Okay…

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Worst Opening Sentence – 2022

“Who’s on First?”  was perhaps the most famous sketch of Abbott & Costello. It is essentially seven or eight minutes of word play that cracks me up every time I come across it on da’ net.  It is the continuation of themes common in the Burlesque era of entertainment, which is where the act of Abbott & Costello got its start.

Mark Twain  rose to fame with stories such as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County which was required reading when I was in school during the Paleolithic period. The gist of the story is that a man feeds buckshot to a frog in order to win a bar bet. Want to know more? Read the story.

I saw myself following Continue reading “Worst Opening Sentence – 2022”

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Word of the Day – Surfeit

  • Adjective: Surfeit

    1. an overabundant supply : excess
    2. an intemperate or immoderate indulgence in something (such as food or drink)
    3. disgust caused by excess
  • Synonyms:
    1. bellyful
    2. excess
    3. fat
    4. overabundance
    5. overage
    6. overflow
    7. overkill
    8. overmuch
    9. overplus
    10. oversupply
    11. plethora
    12. plus
    13. redundancy
    14. superabundance
    15. superfluity
    16. surplus
    17. surplusage
  • Usage:
    1. “I trembled to think of the ruined purses this day’s performances might result in. I could not help reflecting bodingly upon the intemperate zeal with which middle-aged men are apt to surfeit themselves upon a seductive folly which they have tasted for the first time. ”
  • Encountered:
    1. While reading Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad.

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Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

I would have to call this book a two-fer. You have a historical novel, accurate in its facts about the subject, Joan of Arc, delivered by a masterful story teller, Mark Twain. It was the last book of Twain’s published while he lived, and he considered it his best work.  Who am I to argue with Samuel Clemens?  It is remarkable that this book is not better known.  I had no idea until a few weeks ago that he had written such a book.  I had bought a two volume set Continue reading “Joan of Arc by Mark Twain”