“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
-Mark Twain

And then as some twenty years and more pass, I marvel at how he even tolerated me in the first place.

Fatherhood is not an easy task, no matter how it may appear to the boy of fourteen. Too many try it that shouldn’t. When you are blessed with a good father, it is wise to be thankful. On father’s day and every other day as well.

“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries of life disappear and life stands explained”
– From Mark Twain’s Notebook

We might watch the television news, or read a newspaper, or browse to a favorite blog and learn of the days events. Upon doing so way may mutter to ourselves, “has the world gone mad?”.

Now is the time to remember that the world has always been mad, and we are bit players in that madness. It doesn’t really change anything, but it may help us get through another day.

“The exercise of an extraordinary gift is the supremest pleasure in life”
-Mark Twain 

One need not be a Mark Twain to consider themselves in possession of an extraordinary gift, though his was certainly just that.

We all come into this world with a unique and extraordinary gift. When recognized, nurtured, and pursued we can surely find satisfaction and delight; perhaps even a glimmer true happiness.

“With us no individual is born with a right to look down upon his neighbor and hold him in contempt.”
-Mark Twain, “Americans and English” speech

And in so doing we forfeit any moral authority to which we would ever hope to lay claim.

Whatever the source of contempt for another, it is not a right nor a source of pride or justification, but merely a failing of the human spirit.