Editor’s Note: It’s been a busy week, so a little relaxation from the Master heading into the weekend. Enjoy.
Sam Clemens Speaks . . .
• On writing: “Plain clarity is better than ornate obscurity.” (1900 letter to an editor)• On editing: “You really must get your mind out and have it repaired.” (same year, same editor....)
• On authorities: “Ecclesiastical and military courts—made up of cowards, hypocrites and time-servers—can be bred at the rate of a million a year and have material left over; but it takes five centuries to breed a Joan of Arc and a Zola.” (1935)
• To an editor he respected: “Slash it, with entire freedom; the more you slash, the better I like it.” (to William Dean Howells, 1881)
• On originality: “The thought is nothing—it has occurred to everybody; so has every thought that is worth fame. The expression of it is the thing to applaud...” (margin notes, Modern English Literature: Its Blemishes and Defects, 1857)
• and... “What a good thing Adam had—when he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before.”
• Finally.... “When I am king, they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also teachings out of books, for a full belly is little worth where the mind is starved.” (The Prince and the Pauper, 1881)
Note: In a recent Twain credit line I referred to him as a curmudgeon. This drew a little complaint, on the basis of the fact that “curmudgeon” is defined in the dictionary as a disagreeable sort of person. But for me, “curmudgeon” is a term of praise (as it must be after 30 years as a teacher). So, like Twain, I eschew the timid and accepted definition in favor of, as Humpty-Dumpty would say, words meaning what I want them to mean. That’s probably bad precedent for my students, but there you are. So on reflection, I still think Twain is a curmudgeon, in the best sense of the word.
~ ~ ~
John Gorman writes:
ReplyDelete"Words are sacred. They deserve respect..."
Prof Pease,
You should review your work for consistency before sending it to the printer.
Please compare the Stoppard quote, above, with your own words;
"I eschew the...accepted definition in favor of... words meaning what I want them to mean. That's probably a bad precedent for my students, but there you are."
There was a better retort available to you, sir, that language is a living thing, constantly evolving, while the contents of a dictionary are stone, cold dead. You chose instead a response that was arrogant and irresponsible. Mark Twain was no curmudgeon, but you may qualify one day.
John Gorman
Pease; Ah, John. You got me again.....
More curmudgeonity (which I'm pretty sure isn't a word, so critics can lay off....)
ReplyDelete• A fine choice for today, having practiced our skills yesterday.
--Jeff
• Several noted a(n) historical discrepancy:
"On authorities: Ecclesiastical and military courts--made up of cowards, hypocrites and time-servers--can be bred at the rate of a million a year and have material left over; but it takes five centuries to breed a Joan of Arc and a Zola." (1935)
1935? Wow! Much as I admire Twain, I never dreamed he was that resilient. He died in 1910 (came in with Halley's Comet, went out with Halley's Comet).
--Hugh
Pease: As I've noted before, sending words out to wordpeople and editors is parlous... In this case, Hugh, Randy and others who objected to the date: 1935 was the publication date for a collection of Twain's stuff. He was not (at that moment) speaking from the grave....
• I got into a back-‘n-forth with John Gorman about “curmudgeon” which I maintained was similar to “wag” though occasionally less patient.
Great Twain quotes.
Thanks again, Ted.
--Tony
• Amen to "curmudgeonly", etc. Your view and mine coincide en toto. HC
• Mencken and Cleveland Amory were curmudgeons. Andy Rooney definitely is one. Mark Twain? Ok, sure. You could even be one, don't you think? I've been so accused but I prefer "smartass."
--Ross
• CARRY ON, CURMUDGEON! Yr. Mother
Well, that's good enough for me. Thanks, Mom.
TP
Well, your mom should know.
ReplyDelete