by Marty Coleman | Sep 1, 2011 | Great Quotists - 2011, Mark Twain |
It’s day #3 of The Great Quotists – Mr. Samuel Langhorne Clemens if you please.
The words ‘mark twain’ are what the steamboat pilots of the 1800s would call out when the measurement of the water on the river was at least 2 fathoms. It meant that the water was deep enough for the boats to travel safely. Samuel Clemens was a steamboat pilot along the Mississippi River and took those words as his pen name in 1863. It also is the case that an earlier Mississippi steamboat captain, one Captain Sellers, used that as his pen name before Clemens did. Clemens supposedly chose the name in honor of that first writer and as a connection to his roots on the river.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Mark Twain – NOTE: While this quote has long been attributed to Twain, there is some reason to doubt whether he actually said it. Record going back to early in his life attribute the quote to Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 31, 2011 | Great Quotists - 2011, Voltaire |
Don’t quote me, but it’s day #2 of ‘The Great Quotists’ series at the NDD
Next up is François-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name, Voltaire.
Voltaire is the wit of France. Born into the enlightenment era he skewered royalty, religion, pretension, society, and politics with a sharpness of tongue that no other could match.
But he was much more than just a sarcastic wit. He was an amateur scientist, working to discover the elements of fire. He was one of the first to write history in a modern way, paying attention to culture and society as much as military and political events. He was a crusader for the separation of church and state and religious freedom. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets.
Another example of a man who had humor until the end, his famous last words were, “Now, now, my good man, this is not the time for making enemies.” in response to a priest asking him to renounce Satan.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Voltaire, 1694-1778, French writer
More Voltaire quotes in the napkin drawings
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 30, 2011 | Great Quotists - 2011, Oscar Wilde |
This week I am going to highlight some of my favorite quotists; the authors, aphorists, journalists and commentators who have contributed the most over the years to The Napkin Dad Daily.
First up, Oscar Wilde
An irish wit if ever there was one, Oscar Wilde lived in the 1800s and ruled the literary world for some time with writings such as ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’.
Unfortunately, the Victorian laws ruled over the land and when it was discovered he had committed ‘the sin that isn’t mentioned’ he was thrown in jail. When he got out he departed for France, never to return.
Nonetheless, he did not lose his wit. The story goes that on his death bed he still had enough left in him to give what has to be the wittiest final words in history, “Either those curtains go, or I do.” The curtains stayed and he went. A variation on the final words is sometimes quoted as, “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has got to go.”
Oscar Wilde holds a dear place in my heart solely because my eldest daughter, Rebekah, loved reading him when she was a teenager. She would always be telling us various quotes and when I was drawing the napkins and putting them in their lunches (read that story here) my most frequent quotist was Mr. Wilde.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer and wit
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