Mark Twain

[pokerfan]

was pretty much the George Carlin of his day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7OYeD8vJKI

Man has been here 32,000 years. That it took a hundred million years to prepare the world for him is proof that that is what it was done for. I suppose it is. I dunno. If the Eiffel tower were now representing the world's age, the skin of paint on the pinnacle-knob at its summit would represent man's share of that age; & anybody would perceive that that skin was what the tower was built for. I reckon they would. I dunno.

Man is a marvelous curiosity … he thinks he is the Creator's pet … he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to him and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea.

There are those who scoff at the school boy, calling him frivolous and shallow. Yet it was the schoolboy who said, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so."

If Christ were here there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian.

There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him -- early.

I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit.

The two Testaments are interesting, each in its own way. The Old one gives us a picture of these people's Deity as he was before he got religion, the other one gives us a picture of him as he appeared afterward.

God, so atrocious in the Old Testament, so attractive in the New -- the Jekyl and Hyde of sacred romance.

[hlthe2b]

1. Mark Twain was truly a man ahead of his time...

[niyad]

2. "letters from the earth" is one of my favourite pieces of literature. I used to give copies to

friends when they completed divinity or comparative religion courses, as an antidote.

lucifer's comments on sex in "letters" are so spot-on, they should be required reading in sex-ed classes (except that most schools don't have them any more, thanks to the wingnut brigade)

[hobbit709]

5. One of my faves too.

[pokerfan]

12. I have it but haven't read it

:blush:

Based on your recommendation, it's getting bumped to the top of the pile.

[niyad]

3. or the other way around--george is the mark twain of our day

[InvisibleTouch]

4. I love it - thanks for the quotes!

I too have often puzzled (sometimes in amusement, sometimes in anger) at how humans think they are the be-all and end-all of existence, as though the Universe dotes on them more so than on any other living being. Bespeaks of the overcompensation of a massive inferiority complex, methinks.

[pokerfan]

13. Exactly!

There is nothing like studying cosmology to really put things in perspective...

100.000,000,000,000 cells in your body...

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the known universe...

[AlecBGreen]

16. hey pokerfan

I saw a similar number for the # of stars in the universe (many septillions) and its so inconceivably large someone came up with a way to describe it. For every single grain of sand on earth, there are 100 stars in the universe. If that doesnt blow your mind, I dont know what will!

[pokerfan]

19. Yeah, and I even dug around a few years ago to verify it

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/539329.html

"So if we round the number of sand grains to, say, 10^20 and round the number of stars to, say 10^22 then there are at least 100 stars in the universe for every grain of sand on earth."

[Blue_In_AK]

6. The last e-mail sent out by my friend Roger Ranch,

an outstanding progressive activist here in Anchorage who tragically died in a house fire on Tuesday, was a Mark Twain quote:

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress.
Mark Twain

It's kind of eerie that you would mention Mark Twain, someone who I hadn't thought about in years, at this time. Roger's spirit perhaps touching you. :)

RIP, "Bones"


http://www.themudflats.net/2010/12/23/farewell-to-a-friend-roger-ranch-1942-2010/

[BrklynLiberal]

7. Wonderfu tribute to a unique and wonderful man. Condolences on the loss of your friend.

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Thank you, Brooklyn.

There have been many wonderful tributes written here on the Alaskan blogs since Roger's passing. He was such an integral part of our tight-knit progressive community here. I can think of very few political events or rallies or campaign fundraisers that I've been to in the past several years where Roger wasn't present. Jeanne's comment "His absence will be felt as strongly as if it were a presence in itself" is so very true.

I know you sometimes read the Alaska blogs, so you've probably read of our sorrow. It's such a tragedy to come right before Christmas. The afternoon of the fire, he and his lady friend had been planning to shop for Christmas gifts for the foster kids' wish lists. Shannyn's radio show today was a repeat of Tuesday's broadcast with Roger's last call in ... him talking about John McCain and what an asshat he is on veteran's issues. I had to start crying all over again just hearing his voice.



And sorry for the threadjack, Pokerfan. I was just really struck by the fact that you would mention Mark Twain at this time.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. I am sure that Roger will live on in the memories of those who knew him...and

those inspired by his actions will carry on his good works. So in a way, he is still with you all.

[niyad]

11. condolences on the loss of your friend, sounds a really great man.

[pokerfan]

14. Perhaps...

I don't know what spurred it... No wait, I do. A friend lost a parent not too long ago after a long illness and that called to mind the death and inconvenience quote and I somehow felt compelled to share it. I don't fear death as much as I fear dying if that makes any sense. (What a cheery subject for Christmas.)

RIP 'Bones.'

[DeSwiss]

10. K&R

"In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from
authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other." ~Mark Twain

[felix_numinous]

15. K&R

[Sal316]

17. Carlin? No.

Twain was a Presbyterian, heavily influenced by the liberal Calvinism of the 19th Century.

He wasn't an atheist nor was he a devoutly religious person.

He lived, like alot of people, somewhere in the middle.

[skepticscott]

18. He ended up

not really as most people we would regard as "religious". He never rejected the existence of god so much as he came to hate the way he perceived god to be.