Mark Twain Blog » Mark Twain in Today’s World http://marktwainblog.org Mark Twain - An American Philosopher : His Words in Today's Context Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:51:25 +0000 en hourly 1 admin admin Mark Twain - An American Philosopher : His Words in Today's Context No No On Learning to See http://marktwainblog.org/2010/04/07/on-learning-to-see/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/04/07/on-learning-to-see/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:34:45 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=267 "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."
-Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

It is with our eyes that we look, but only with our imagination that we see.

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]]> "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."
-Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

It is with our eyes that we look, but only with our imagination that we see.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/04/07/on-learning-to-see/feed/ 0 On Textbooks in Texas http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/24/on-textbooks-in-texas/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/24/on-textbooks-in-texas/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:11:37 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=261 "The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice."
-Mark Twain, Following the Equator

For the Texas Board of Education, America wasn't founded on the principal of the separation of church and state, every good capitalist is actually a free-market conservative, McCarthy wasn't really that bad, and Thomas Jefferson had nothing to do with inspiring revolution in 18th-century America.

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]]> "The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice."
-Mark Twain, Following the Equator

For the Texas Board of Education, America wasn't founded on the principal of the separation of church and state, every good capitalist is actually a free-market conservative, McCarthy wasn't really that bad, and Thomas Jefferson had nothing to do with inspiring revolution in 18th-century America.

And the ink dries on prejudice in Texas.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/24/on-textbooks-in-texas/feed/ 0 On Empathy and the Law of Proportion http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/15/on-empathy-and-the-law-of-proportion/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/15/on-empathy-and-the-law-of-proportion/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:39:22 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=257 "Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size."
-Mark Twain, "Which Was the Dream"

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]]> "Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size."
-Mark Twain, "Which Was the Dream"

All loss is profound. Comfort is found by seeing equally in other's sorrow – and joy – a measure of our own.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/15/on-empathy-and-the-law-of-proportion/feed/ 0 On How a Little Certain Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/08/on-how-a-little-certain-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/08/on-how-a-little-certain-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:35:42 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=236 “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so"
-Mark Twain

The more tenaciously a thought is held, the more irrational it becomes. But it ain't necessarily  so.

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]]> “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so"
-Mark Twain

The more tenaciously a thought is held, the more irrational it becomes. But it ain't necessarily  so.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/03/08/on-how-a-little-certain-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing/feed/ 0 On Conspiracy Theories http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/28/on-conspiracy-theories/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/28/on-conspiracy-theories/#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:55:07 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=244 "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, most of them never happened."
- Mark Twain

Beware the boogie man in the dark corner, for he just may not exist.

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]]> "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, most of them never happened."
- Mark Twain

Beware the boogie man in the dark corner, for he just may not exist.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/28/on-conspiracy-theories/feed/ 0 On Learning to Live With Yourself – and Others http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/14/on-learning-to-live-with-yourself-and-others/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/14/on-learning-to-live-with-yourself-and-others/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:16:23 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=229 "A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."
-Mark Twain

A man that can walk through life unburdened by the vicissitudes of others, accept his own shortcomings, and strive always to improve himself, warts and all, is an easy person to be around – for himself and others.

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]]> "A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."
-Mark Twain

A man that can walk through life unburdened by the vicissitudes of others, accept his own shortcomings, and strive always to improve himself, warts and all, is an easy person to be around – for himself and others.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/14/on-learning-to-live-with-yourself-and-others/feed/ 0 On Telling the Truth http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/02/on-telling-the-truth/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/02/on-telling-the-truth/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:46:50 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=233 "A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar."
-Mark Twain

We are all sinners, liars, and cheats. Admitting it is the only hope we have that we'll not always be sinners, liars, and cheats.

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]]> "A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar."
-Mark Twain

We are all sinners, liars, and cheats. Admitting it is the only hope we have that we'll not always be sinners, liars, and cheats.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/02/02/on-telling-the-truth/feed/ 0 On Finding a True Wealth of Knowledge http://marktwainblog.org/2010/01/25/on-finding-a-true-wealth-of-knowledge/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/01/25/on-finding-a-true-wealth-of-knowledge/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:51:41 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=220 "I would rather have my ignorance than another man's knowledge, because I have got so much more of it."
-Mark Twain

All we can be sure of is our own ignorance – knowing that we don't know. An abundance of known ignorance is better than a paucity of knowledge.

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]]> "I would rather have my ignorance than another man's knowledge, because I have got so much more of it."
-Mark Twain

All we can be sure of is our own ignorance – knowing that we don't know. An abundance of known ignorance is better than a paucity of knowledge.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/01/25/on-finding-a-true-wealth-of-knowledge/feed/ 0 On Reality and Having an Active Inner Life http://marktwainblog.org/2010/01/19/on-reality-and-having-an-active-inner-life/ http://marktwainblog.org/2010/01/19/on-reality-and-having-an-active-inner-life/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:49:59 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=214 "Life does not consist mainly – or even largely – of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever blowing through one's head"
-Mark Twain

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]]> "Life does not consist mainly – or even largely – of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever blowing through one's head"
-Mark Twain

Still waters run deep. The life of the mind is life itself.

]]> http://marktwainblog.org/2010/01/19/on-reality-and-having-an-active-inner-life/feed/ 0 On the Transience of Fame and the Myth of Glory http://marktwainblog.org/2009/10/20/on-the-transience-of-fame-and-the-myth-of-glory/ http://marktwainblog.org/2009/10/20/on-the-transience-of-fame-and-the-myth-of-glory/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:12:19 +0000 Thomas Schueneman http://marktwainblog.org/?p=209 "It is a pathetic thought. We struggle, we rise, we tower in the zenith a brief and gorgeous moment, with the adoring eyes of the nations upon us, then the lights go out, oblivion closes around us, our glory fades and vanishes, a few generations drift by, and naught remains but a mystery and a name."
-Mark Twain

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]]> "It is a pathetic thought. We struggle, we rise, we tower in the zenith a brief and gorgeous moment, with the adoring eyes of the nations upon us, then the lights go out, oblivion closes around us, our glory fades and vanishes, a few generations drift by, and naught remains but a mystery and a name."
-Mark Twain

What does it really mean, when we pass into inevitable oblivion, to possess fame or claim glory?  Fame vanishes and glory dies in the press of our own ego.

It is nothing but what we leave behind that is important in the end. Best to consider what that might be while it is still in our power, lest we be caught with nothing at all to show for it

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