Mark Twain1835–1910The problem is not that we have too many fools, it’s that the lightning isn’t distributed right.
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), Ch. 22
- “Taming the Bicycle” (1917)
One of the brightest gems in the New England weather is the dazzling uncertainty of it.
New England Weather, speech to the New England Society (December 22, 1876)Only one thing is impossible for God: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.
Mark Twain’s Notebook (1935), p. 381Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough.
“A Mysterious Visit”, Buffalo Express, 19 March 1870. Anthologized in Mark Twain’s Sketches, New and Old (1875)H’aint we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain’t that a big enough majority in any town?
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), Ch. 26In contextThey spell it “Vinci” and pronounce it “Vinchy”. Foreigners always spell better than they pronounce.
The Innocents Abroad (1869), Ch. 19- Mark Twain’s Notebook (1935), p. 379
- A Horse’s Tale (1907), Acknowledgements
- Statement (1906) in Mark Twain in Eruption: Hitherto Unpublished Pages About Men and Events (1940) edited by Bernard DeVoto
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), NoticeIn context
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Chapter IIn context
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Chapter IIIn context
