MARK TWAIN - do you know.....?!

A FULL MEMOIR AFTER 100 YEARS?

Twain, 1871

Mark Twain – an American author and humorist – died April 21, 1910.  However, until now, no one ever produced a complete manuscript of his memoir. Why? At his death, Twain stipulated that the manuscript of his memoir was not to be published in its entirely for 100 years..!!

As I read the descriptions of his memoir (Volume 1 of, possibly, a total of 3), I am intrigued to read the full Volume. Ah..Ah… surely during my retirement.

Some of Twain’s words caught my attention are:

-          In writing your memoir ‘start at no particular time of your life; wander at your free will all over your life’. Interesting. I like this approach and will follow if I am writing one.

-          ‘when a man is writing a book dealing with the privacies of his life – a book to be read while he is still alive – he shrinks from speaking his whole frank mind’. I wonder how would Decision Point (Bush), A Journey (Blair) or The Singapore Story (LKY) would be seen if Twain still around.

(thanks to Time, Nov 22 /2010)

MARK TWAIN QUOTES
(http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain/)

QUOTES of Mark Twain

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.

Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven't been done before.

Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough.

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.

Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge.

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.

 Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't.

Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.

Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.

Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.

Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place.

I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.

I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying that I approved of it.

 I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.

I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won't.

I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting.