Mark Twain's Letters From The Earth
April 12, 2017 at 9:05 pm
(This post was last modified: April 12, 2017 at 9:23 pm by Kernel Sohcahtoa.)
A thoughtful TTA member posted Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth on the discussion boards, and as a result, I thought that some AF members may find them interesting. Here's an excerpt from letter II
Letters from the Earth
"As you have seen, that singular show is a service of praise: praise by hymn, praise by prostration. It takes the place of "church." Now then, in the earth these people cannot stand much church -- an hour and a quarter is the limit, and they draw the line at once a week. That is to say, Sunday. One day in seven; and even then they do not look forward to it with longing. And so -- consider what their heaven provides for them: "church" that lasts forever, and a Sabbath that has no end! They quickly weary of this brief hebdomadal Sabbath here, yet they long for that eternal one; they dream of it, they talk about it, they think they think they are going to enjoy it -- with all their simple hearts they think they think they are going to be happy in it!
It is because they do not think at all; they only think they think. Whereas they can't think; not two human beings in ten thousand have anything to think with. And as to imagination -- oh, well, look at their heaven! They accept it, they approve it, they admire it. That gives you their intellectual measure." Mark Twain
Well, with that said, I hope that Letters from the Earth will be of interest to the people in the AF community. In addition, please post any of your favorite passages. Live long and prosper.
P.S. While reading Letters from the Earth, I kept hearing the voice of Jerry Hardin, who played Mark Twain in the Star Trek TNG two part episode "Time's Arrow."
Letters from the Earth
"As you have seen, that singular show is a service of praise: praise by hymn, praise by prostration. It takes the place of "church." Now then, in the earth these people cannot stand much church -- an hour and a quarter is the limit, and they draw the line at once a week. That is to say, Sunday. One day in seven; and even then they do not look forward to it with longing. And so -- consider what their heaven provides for them: "church" that lasts forever, and a Sabbath that has no end! They quickly weary of this brief hebdomadal Sabbath here, yet they long for that eternal one; they dream of it, they talk about it, they think they think they are going to enjoy it -- with all their simple hearts they think they think they are going to be happy in it!
It is because they do not think at all; they only think they think. Whereas they can't think; not two human beings in ten thousand have anything to think with. And as to imagination -- oh, well, look at their heaven! They accept it, they approve it, they admire it. That gives you their intellectual measure." Mark Twain
Well, with that said, I hope that Letters from the Earth will be of interest to the people in the AF community. In addition, please post any of your favorite passages. Live long and prosper.
P.S. While reading Letters from the Earth, I kept hearing the voice of Jerry Hardin, who played Mark Twain in the Star Trek TNG two part episode "Time's Arrow."
