I just discovered this article. I have always loved his writing, particularly Huckleberry Finn. Here his growing awareness of his own racism is discussed, among other things. He has some great quotes. Here's an example:
Patriotism “is a word which always commemorates a robbery. There isn’t a foot of land in the world which doesn’t represent the ousting and re-ousting of a long line of successive ‘owners’ who each in turn, as ‘patriots,’ with proud swelling hearts defended it against the next gang of ‘robbers’ who came to steal it and did—and became swelling-hearted patriots in their turn.”
I take the point, but there are places in the Arctic and Antarctic where literally no one has ever set foot, much less owned in any meaningful way.
To be fair, there is no "land" in the Arctic to steal, it is just a thick sheet of ice, so there is nothing to steal, yet (funny thing) we as people are fighting about this "ice cream," like Joe Biden (sorry, it wrote itself, too easy...lol)
There is a ton of land in the Arctic. I'm not talking about the ocean. I'm talking about the northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Russia. The Arctic refers to everything north of the Arctic Circle.
Oh yeah. You can't take it literally.
The "All land is stolen land" narrative annoys me.
He didn't have a strong libertarian property rights natural bent. Well, maybe that's not fair. People living in the Golan Heights see themselves as loyal patriots.
A great work by a great writer!
I always get confused between Mark Twain and Oliver Twist . Are they same or different? They infact don't resemble theoretically as one is fiction and the other is real human but it is as it is with me.
Oliver Twist is the name of a novel by Charles Dickens. He was British. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was an American writer.
Thanks! I know it but somehow I just get confused for the name of the writer.
Twist and Twain! I see
Yes, it's causing me consider that both are same! Haha!!
https://m.stacker.news/42339
Well said, and sadly true :-) Reality bites they say...
As Mark Twain said: He who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read.
This is a fantastic piece. I've read a lot of Twain, but had never encountered "The War-Prayer” and some of the other things mentioned here.
‘Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool.”
It's been alleged that these were the words of Mark Twain. So, if I mix it with your quote above. Men have been like this forever. They've been slaves of one or the other thing.
Great Book and full of wisdom truths! It was just last year I read it for my literature exam. Here's one other ... My favourite...
“Hain’t we got all the fools in town on our side? And hain’t that a big enough majority in any town?”
So true, well said. "A full belly is little worth where the mind is starved." This has always hit me with society today.
Well Twain also was a member of Bohemian Grove where apparently grown men liked to dance around an owl: https://sites.smith.edu/fys169-f19/2019/12/08/mark-twain-did-not-sacrifice-babies-to-moloch/
I’m not saying that that makes his claims wrong but I am saying one should see them in their proper light.
Well, better than a pigeon
Who stole the ok corral?
https://m.stacker.news/42342