[Ads-l] apocryphal Twain

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks for sharing this, Bill, and thanks to Andy and Dan for their
comments. I was happy to see that the researcher Mat Seybold did
mention my work on the topic, and he pointed to the pertinent webpage
on the Quote Investigator website.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/06/22/why/

Seybold mentioned the key 1970 sermon, but he also stated that he had
difficulty accessing the sermon:

[Begin excerpt]
Unfortunately, I have been unable to consult this source myself,
though I have no reason to doubt Dr. O’Toole.
[End excerpt]

I did indicate in the citation for the sermon that the document was
available via archive.org, but I did not provide a link. Now, to help
fellow researchers I have updated the article to include a direct
link.

https://archive.org/stream/sermongiveyethem00camp#page/8/mode/2up

Garson


On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 3:46 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> I immediately thought of the "two happiest days of a man’s life", which
> Barry Popik has traced back to 1823.
>
> DanG
>
> On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 3:34 PM, Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Huh:
>>
>> The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the
>> day you find out why. – The Apocryphal Twain
>>
>> The Occam’s Razor of Twain attribution is, as follows: If the aphorism in
>> question indicates a sentimental, nostalgic, or otherwise optimistic
>> attitude towards humanity, it probably didn’t come from Twain. As Louis
>> Budd put is, Twain indulged a “lifelong suspicion that the mass of mankind
>> is venal, doltish, feckless, and tyrannical, that the damn fools make up a
>> majority anywhere.”
>>
>> I've always taken the quote's "finding" to be about finding about how
>> babies are made. Never thought of a "self-help"/find your purpose sort of
>> meaning.
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 11:45 AM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
>> RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
>>
>> > Possibly of interest.
>> >
>> > http://marktwainstudies.com/the-apocryphal-twain-the-two-
>> > most-important-days-of-your-life/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> a
>>
>> Andy Bach,
>> afbach at gmail.com
>> 608 658-1890 cell
>> 608 261-5738 wk
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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