[Ads-l] The lightning ain=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99t_?=distributed right. Mark Twain

[Wilson Gray]

> "I wish to God the lightning would strike me; but I've wished that fifty
thousand times and     > never got anything out of it yet."

That sounds like something that would be said by a man who could also
complain,

All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.

On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 7:03 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:

> This is not a match but maybe somewhat related.
>
> "...violent rages...declaring himself...as an idiot, he said, 'I wish to
> God the lightning would strike me; but I've wished that fifty thousand
> times and never got anything out of it yet. I have missed several good
> chances. Mrs. Clemens was afraid of lightning, and would never let me bare
> my head to the storm.'"
>
> SG
>
>
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mark_Twain_a_Biography/nB05AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=lightning%20
> [
> https://books.google.com/books/content?id=nB05AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE71pQYReymy3-yxbF_ikp2H-Bvr-2vyGSfynJJwuKdn9IbjGxwsrNG7G374wX-KJtWUb3FkL3GTfWbZ5o_r3Y5e7Sw78Y4XVUa0UK8KBhPhB40fYD7yfd9dskWmsaeI9oYhxur51
> ]<
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mark_Twain_a_Biography/nB05AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=lightning%20
> >
> Mark Twain, a Biography<
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mark_Twain_a_Biography/nB05AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=lightning%20
> >
> /
> www.google.com
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2020 4:00 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: The lightning ain’t distributed right. Mark Twain
>
> A librarian in Texas asked me about a quip attributed to Mark Twain.
> The earliest instance I found appeared in a 1927 book titled "More
> Maxims of Mark" compiled by Merle Johnson. Twain died in 1910, but
> scholars apparently believe that the sayings in this slim volume are
> authentic Twainisms.
>
> Johnson's book was published as a fifty copy limited edition, and a
> friend accessed / photographed it in the Rubenstein Rare Book Library
> at Duke University. The quotation was on page 13.
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> THE TROUBLE AIN'T THAT THERE IS TOO MANY FOOLS, BUT THAT THE LIGHTNING
> AIN'T DISTRIBUTED RIGHT.
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/10/06/fools-lightning/__;!!OToaGQ!5eExOyLIiRye8OyjnkGN0tUnxk08Q9lfxus57ZhUko85xcdrxjEBJ938KY8NdNNh$
>
> Feedback and earlier evidence would be welcome,
> Garson O'Toole
>
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>


-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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