Mark Twain was so good with crowds that he became, in competition with singers and dancers and actors and acrobats, one of the most popular performers of his time. It is so unusual, and so psychologically unlikely, too, for a great writer to be a great performer, too.

bergeron's epitaph for the planet, i remember, which he said should be carved in big letters in a wall of the grand canyon for the flying-saucer people to find was this: WE COULD HAVE SAVED IT, BUT WE WERE TOO DOGGONE CHEAP. only he didn't say "doggone.

In an unmoored life like mine, sleep and hunger and work arrange themselves to suit themselves, without consulting me.

When we passed a Catholic church, I recalled, he said, "You think your dad's a good chemist? They're turning soda crackers into meat in there. Can your dad do that?

Where's evil? It's that large part of every man that wants to hate without limit, that wants to hate with God on its side.

Charm was a scheme for making strangers like and trust a person immediately, no matter what the charmer had in mind.

If facts weren't funny, or scary, or couldn't make you rich, the heck with them.