Mark Twain
Many of the works of Mark Twain deal with or take place near the Mississippi River. One of his first major works, Life on the Mississippi, is in part a history of the river, in part a memoir of Twain's experiences on the river, and a collection of tales that either take place on or are associated with the river. Twain's most famous work, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is largely a journey down the river. The novel works as an episodic meditation on American culture with the river having multiple different meanings including independence, escape, freedom, and adventure.
Twain himself worked as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi for a few years. A steamboat pilot needed a vast knowledge of the ever-changing river to be able to stop at any of the hundreds of ports and wood-lots along the river banks. Twain meticulously studied 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of the Mississippi for more than two years before he received his steamboat pilot license in 1859. While training, he convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him. Henry died on June 21, 1858, when the steamboat he was working on, the Pennsylvania, exploded.
Read more about this topic: Steamboats Of The Mississippi
Famous quotes by mark twain:
“What, sir, would the people of the earth be without woman? They would be scarce, sir, almighty scarce.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Michelangelo said to Pope Julius II, ‘Self negation is noble, self-culture is beneficent, self-possession is manly, but to the truly great and inspiring soul they are poor and tame compared to self-abuse.’ Mr. Brown, here, in one of his latest and most graceful poems refers to it in an eloquent line which is destined to live to the end of time—’None know it but to love it, None name it but to praise.’”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Duties are not performed for duty’s sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty—the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Whoever has lived long enough to find out what life is, knows how deep a debt of gratitude we owe to Adam, the first great benefactor of our race. He brought death into the world.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)