Showing posts with label Mark Twain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Twain. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Wednesday Wisdom - There is Nothing That Cannot Happen


When I feel like I am living a day that has become mired in a steady flow of bad luck, I like to be reminded by this quote that there is nothing that cannot happen.

Even on the days that seem filled with darkness, it's possible that you just might find the light switch!

Mark Twain - one of the most American of Americans.  An ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life with little more than a winning personality and a sense of adventure to help him achieve it.  His humor, wit, camaraderie and appreciation of language made him a legend.   If you haven't yet, read his first major book, The Innocents Abroad.  It was essentially released as a tongue-in-cheek travel guide (travel guides being a popular genre at the time),  and it was enormously popular.  Reading the book today, it provides a very interesting (sometimes cringe-inducing) glimpse into international cultures, peoples and conflicts of the time, from the viewpoint of a witty, wild, unapologetic young journalist from Missouri. 

The quote today is from Mark Twain's Autobiography, and is in reference to discovering that a rather ridiculous character with an outlandish name from his early work, "The Gilded Age," shared a name with an actual person who was none too pleased by the publicity.   What I've shared above is actually a bit of a misquote - Americans seem to have tacked on the "today" over the years, but it still captures the spirit of the original quote, so I'll keep it.

The original quote reads, "Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen.  Even the existence of two unrelated men wearing the impossible name of Eschol Sellers is a possible thing."

Happy Wednesday!


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