Mark Twain Quotes

[align=left]Mark Twain Quotes And How They Relate To The "War On Terrorism"[/align]

[align=left]he sounds like a crazy weirdo that mark twain.[/align]

[align=left]From a reader....[/align]

[align=left]Here's a list of Mark Twain quotes I put together in a powerful way [/align]
which describes this whole phony "War on Terrorism"

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Mark Twain Quotes And How They Relate To The "War On Terrorism"

Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Twain

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man; brave,
hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join
him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain(aka Samuel
Clemens)

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government
when it deserves it." - Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its
institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the
substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and
care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its
mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be
comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and
death." - From "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" - Mark
Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"The citizen who sees his society's democratic clothes being worn out
and does not cry out is not a patriot but a traitor." - Mark Twain(aka
Samuel Clemens)

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who
are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." - Mark Twain(aka
Samuel Clemens)"

"First God created idiots, this was for practice. Then he made
congress." - Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no
distinctly American criminal class except Congress." - Mark Twain(aka
Samuel Clemens)

"Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War.
He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in
cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal
that for sordid wages will march outâ?¦and help to slaughter strangers of
his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no
quarrel. â?¦And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off
his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man" â?? with his
mouth." - From "What Is Man" by Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"To string incongruities and absurdities together in a wandering and
sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they are
absurdities, is the basis of the American art, if my position is
correct." - From "How To Tell A Story"[1897] by Mark Twain(aka Samuel
Clemens)

â??The loud little handful will shout for war. The pulpit will warily and
cautiously protest at firstâ?¦The great mass of the nation will rub its
sleepy eyes, and will try to make out why there should be a war, and
they will say earnestly and indignantly: â??It is unjust and dishonorable
and there is no need for war.â?? Then the few will shout even
louderâ?¦Before long you will see a curious thing: anti-war speakers will
be stoned from the platform, and free speech will be strangled by hordes
of furious men who still agree with the speakers but dare not admit
it...Next, statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame upon the
nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those
conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and
refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by
convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better
sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.â?� - From
"The Mysterious Stranger"[1910] by Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"For in a republic, who is 'the country?' Is it the Government which is
for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant â??
merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine
what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who
isnâ??t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is
'the country?' Is it the newspaper? Is it the pulpit? Is it the
school-superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the
whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in
the command. They are but one in the thousand; it is in the thousand
that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is
wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isnâ??t." - From
"Documents Related to Diaries Antedating The Flood" by Mark Twain(aka
Samuel Clemens)

"In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country; in a republic
it is the common voice of the people. Each of you, for himself, by
himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. And it is a solemn
and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the
bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catch-phrases of
politicians. Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what
is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot
shirk this and be a man. To decide it against your convictions is to be
an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your
country, let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation
shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your
convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by
your country--hold up your head. You have nothing to be ashamed of." -
from "Papers of the Adam Family" by Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to
pause and reflect." - Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world
and moral courage so rare." - Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

"The minority is always in the right. The majority is always in the
wrong." - Mark Twain(aka Samuel Clemens)

let us be thankful for the fools.but for them the rest of us could not succeed.

If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
--Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it
--George Bernard Shaw

When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt

love the roosevelt quote.

the essence of being a liberal:"the absolute conviction that there is one set of rules for you,and another,completely different set of rules for everyone else."

Ann Coulter

"Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

- President Eisenhower

General Colin Powell: One of the fondest expressions around is that we can't be the world's policeman. But guess who gets called when somebody needs a cop.

George Washington: To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

George Orwell: Men sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

"France has usually been governed by prostitutes."
Mark Twain's Notebook #18, (February-September 1879)

"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country."
Mark Twain's Notebook


Even in Twains time! :D

"Do not let your schooling get in the way of your education."

-Mark Twain

good one!