In fact, the whole of today’s occasional entry could consist of quotations. Sayings like the following are often enough for a whole library:
Truth is stranger than fiction, and that’s because fiction must be probable. True.
I’m not afraid of death. I hadn’t lived for billions of years before I was born, and I didn’t feel any discomfort about it.
The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you found out what for.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in the settlement of Florida, but it took some time to find out what he was living for. Forced by circumstances (his father’s death), he was making a living at the age of 12. For this reason, he did not finish primary school. He worked in a printing house, then he was a steamboat pilot. He did not stop this work, despite the fact that the explosion of the steam boiler killed his younger brother.
The nickname he took, Mark Twain, means “select two” and may be derived from pilot jargon. Others say it was an inscription like this that hung in suspicious Nevada dives (only two drinks on credit).
His life at that time was constantly changing. He was a soldier in the Civil War, on both sides. He then left for his other brother, who was Nevada’s secretary of state. However, soon Twain succumbed to the silver fever and began working in the silver mines. He then traded one metal for another and became a gold miner in California.
At that time, he started writing for newspapers. He was even funded to travel to Europe by ship so that he could write a report on the Prostaczek family abroad. Since then, he has traveled and written a lot. He fell in love in 1869, and the following year he married wealthy but sickly Olivia Langdon. They had 4 children with her. It was Olivia who introduced him deeper into the literary environment. He lived with her in Connecticut and it was there that he began to write, inter alia, timeless bestsellers, such as: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , or The Adventures of Huck Finn (the prototype of Jim in this book was probably his dark-skinned friend John T. Lewis), The Prince and the Beggar , or the Yankee in King Arthur’s court (probably the first fantastic book where the protagonist travels in time). Many of his works are embellished with Twain’s specific sense of humor, irony and insightful observation of human behavior. Mark Twain was one of the first to introduce colloquial language and even jargon into literature.
He also wrote satires and criticisms. He was also interested in inventions. Unfortunately, he declined the offer to invest in Bell’s invention, called the telephone. When the publishing house in which he had invested a real fortune collapsed in 1893, the writer was bankrupt. However, he did not break down, but set off into the world with the lectures that gathered real crowds. In this way, he quickly made up for losses, paid his debts and made a lot again.
He passed away on April 21, 1910, of a heart attack, a few months after the death of his daughter Jean.
Finally, one more quote from the classic.
It is better not to speak at all and appear silly than to speak up and dispel any doubts.
So, instead of talking, I’m going to take the slightly dusty Adventures of Tom Sawyer off the shelf and read a few chapters. And you – how will you celebrate today’s anniversary?
