America's greatest truth teller and spirit of Independence Day
was Samuel langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) whose fierce independence and
homespun humor personified the true American spirit before it was eventually
diminished by greed, lies, unjust wars and apathy: Allen L Roland
Born: November 30, 1835 (with
Halley's Comet)
Died: April 21, 1910 (also with Halley's Comet...Twain predicted that his own death would occur with the return of the comet)
Nationality: American
Education: Very little, other than self-education in a library
Occupation: Printer's apprentice, typesetter, printer, steam boat pilot, miner, actor, author, humorist, inventor
Interests/Hobbies: Cats, dogs, gadgets, parapsychology, science, travel and pundit on all things American.
Died: April 21, 1910 (also with Halley's Comet...Twain predicted that his own death would occur with the return of the comet)
Nationality: American
Education: Very little, other than self-education in a library
Occupation: Printer's apprentice, typesetter, printer, steam boat pilot, miner, actor, author, humorist, inventor
Interests/Hobbies: Cats, dogs, gadgets, parapsychology, science, travel and pundit on all things American.
"The
mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of
cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble,
through the rivalry of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain
official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise." Mark Twain
official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise." Mark Twain
Here are a few of my favorite Twain quotes;
On Patriotism ~
Patriotism is the last refuge of
scoundrels.
On Love ~
The
heart is the real Fountain of Youth. -- Notebook, 1898
When
you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.-- Notebook, 1898
Love is not a product of reasoning's and statistics. It just comes
none knows whence and cannot explain itself.-- Eve's Diary
none knows whence and cannot explain itself.-- Eve's Diary
On
Education and the wonder of Discovery
Education consists
mainly in what we have unlearned. -- Notebook, 1898
What
is it that confers the noblest delight? What is that which swells a man's
breast with pride above that which any other experience can bring to him?
Discovery! To know that you are walking where none others have walked; that you
are beholding what human eye has not seen before; that you are breathing a
virgin atmosphere. To give birth to an idea ~ to discover a great thought. -- Innocents Abroad
( Note that this was exactly what I felt when I walked
into a precognitive vision of the Golden Gate bridge from Fort Mason, San
Francisco in 1987~ a vision that I originally had at 6 years old while living
in New England ~ and KNEW in that instant that I was in a Unified
Field of love and soul
consciousness that existed beyond time and space and my task was to own it with
the world )
On
Congress
CONGRESS:
The only "Distinctly Native American Criminal Class".
-- from The Devil's Dictionary
-- from The Devil's Dictionary
"No
country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously
before their minds that they are the guardians of the law, and that the law
officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more."-- The Gilded Age
It
is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably
precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence
never to practice either of them. -- Following The Equator
On War
"Next
the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the 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."
...The Mysterious Stranger
...The Mysterious Stranger
By
and by when each nation has 20,000 battleships and 5,000,000 soldiers we shall
all be safe and the wisdom of statesmanship will stand confirmed.
-- Notebook, 1902
-- Notebook, 1902
"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 out ... and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have
done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel .... And in the intervals
between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal
brotherhood of man" ~ with his mouth"
On
Nature
Change is the
handmaiden Nature requires to do her miracles with. -- Roughing It
But it was The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer that revealed the childlike wondrous heart that existed within Mark Twain as
well as his profound connection to nature ~ and his words touched
the innocent and adventurous hearts of millions, including myself, who also
sensed the miracles that Tom Sawyer witnessed
~ “It was the cool gray dawn, and there was a delicious sense of repose
and peace in the deep pervading calm and silence of the woods. Not a leaf
stirred; not a sound obtruded upon great Nature's meditation ~ Gradually the
cool dim gray of the morning whitened, and as gradually sounds multiplied and
life manifested itself. The marvel of Nature shaking off sleep and going to
work unfolded itself to the musing boy ~ All Nature was wide awake and
stirring, now; long lances of sunlight pierced down through the dense foliage
far and near, and a few butterflies came fluttering upon the scene.” Adventures
of Tom Sawyer
Here's the trailer
for the original Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1938 ~ two minute video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbFzmQIw4ok
Now Journey to Arrow
Rock Missouri for an old fashioned 4th of July celebrating the 35th Anniversary
of the filming of the Hollywood classic, "The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer". Actors Johnny Whitaker and Jeff East recall what it was
like to play Tom and Huck in the great outdoors of central Missouri.
Uploaded on Jun 30, 2010 / 3 minute video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy__o_TbMGg
Happy Independence
day but as Mark Twain wrote ~ The less there is to justify a traditional
custom, the harder it is to get rid of it -- Adventures of Tom
Sawyer
Allen
L Roland
Freelance Alternative
Press Online columnist and transformational counselor
Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and
private Skype consultations (allen@allenroland.com )
Allen
L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and
lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a
monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
