Mark Twain on Love and Marriage

Hartford, Nov. 27/1888

Livy Darling, I am grateful — gratefuler than ever before — that you were born, & that your love is mine & our two lives woven & welded together!

SLC


Mark Twain on Love-

"Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century."
- Twain's Notebook


Mark Twain on Marriage-

"Marriage -- yes, it is the supreme felicity of life. I concede it. And it is also the supreme tragedy of life. The deeper the love the surer the tragedy. And the more disconsolating when it comes."
- Letter written to Father Fitz-Simon, June 5, 1908

Life Lessons from Mark Twain

"... 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


The lesson: There are two lessons that can be learned from this quote.

One: Be mindful that each one of us awakens each morning and faces an internal battle with our thoughts, feelings and personal desires. Take that into consideration when interacting with other people and realize that their position on a topic or reaction to your opinion is based solely on their perceptions.

Two: Give yourself a break. A lot of what's floating around up there has nothing to do with reality. Focus on the positives, ignore the negatives and if you really want something- stop dreaming about it, set some goals and go get it.

Forever a Reddingite...

The opening line of Mark Twain's last will and testament begins...

"I, Samuel L. Clemens of the Town of Redding."

And he is very much a part of the Town of Redding one hundred+ years later.

Lead By Example

"It's noble to be good, and it's nobler to teach others to be good, and less trouble."
- Twain's remarks at the opening of the Mark Twain Library in Redding, Connecticut 1908.

Mark Twain and Helen Keller Exhibit

"The two most interesting characters of the nineteenth century are Helen Keller and Napoleon Bonaparte."
- Mark Twain, New York Sun, April 10, 1903


Easton Public Library in Easton, Connecticut will be hosting our Mark Twain and Helen Keller Exhibit in April and May of this year.

More info soon.

Mark Twain on Habits

"You can't reach old age by another man's road. My habits protect my life but they would assassinate you."
- 70th birthday speech, 1905

And here's proof of that- Mark Twain's bedside table in Hartford, CT...



Anyone else would have likely blown themselves up.

Bob Marley

"Manifestly, dying is nothing to a really great and brave man."

Mark Twain wrote that in a letter to his wife Olivia in reference to Ulysses S. Grant but it could just as easily be applied to Bob Marley today.

Today would have been Bob Marley's 67th birthday. Marley who died of cancer in 1981 at age 36 was and still is the icon of reggae music. His hits: "Get Up, Stand Up," "No Woman, No Cry," "Jamming," and "One Love." are timeless anthems of justice, unity and love that are still relevant today-- thirty+ years after his death.

Bob Marley truly was a great and brave man whose faith allowed him the strength to not to see death as a negative but as a positive... a step closer to God.

To quote another Twain quote on the topic:

"Death is the starlit strip between the companionship of yesterday and the reunion of tomorrow."

One would hope that many of the reunited are "Jamming" up in Heaven today.

Happy Birthday Mr. Bob Marley, may you rest in peace.