Nark Twain lives on in memory and on this Garden City, Kansas, bench.
“Life is short, break the rules. Forgive quickly, kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that makes you smile” – Mark Twain
From Mark Twain
I collect quotes, and Mark Twain’s words are not only worth repeating, they’re worth living by.
What’s your favorite Twain book. Mine is “Huckleberry Finn.”
Samuel Clements, aka Mark Twain, said:
The Mark Twain Bridge across his beloved Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri, — Photo by Pat Bean
“Don’t go round saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect”
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.”
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
But Twain’s “Prayer for War,” which was not allowed to be published during his life time, is, I believe, his best work. I cry every time I read it, and think it should be read daily by all who think war is the best solution to this world’s problems.
I didn’t plan on quoting it when I started what I thought would be a fun blog. But now I feel a responsibility to share it.
The War Prayer
By Mark Twain
“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.”
The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.
Bean’s Pat: The Iris and the Lily http://tinyurl.com/crn8hbt After that I needed a bit of Mother Nature to calm my soul. Perhaps you do too.
Pat Bean's blog 
Twain’s “War Prayer,” which I had not seen before, is a wrench. My favorite Twain book is “Roughing It.”
I’d read Twain’s The War Prayer before but it bears reading again. It so fully recites the horrors of war that every political figure that votes to send our young people into danger should be required to read it first. War does not just eliminate soldiers like chessmen, it has terrible and far-reaching consequences that are too often overlooked or deliberately ignored. The Prayer is a harsh – as it should be – look at the foolishness of war. After all, when all the fighting is done, people still have to sit down at a table and talk. Couldn’t we do that in the first place?
LOVE this man. Thanks so much for highlighting his clever brilliance.
You’re welcome FeyGirl.