I agree.  Point well made.  Would be a good study
 
If one Googles the quote, "The two most important days
of our life..." etc,. the search provides link after link of  Twain
attributions, none of which seem definitive, and all derivative.
Each seeming relying upon the other as a source, the well-
spring remaining a mystery.
 
Roger Durrett
Charlotte, Nc
 
 
In a message dated 8/20/2012 8:49:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

There's  enough of these to fill a book. We could call it "Reports of my
quotes are  greatly exaggerated."

On Monday, August 20, 2012, Paul Schullery  wrote:

> Some Mark Twain Forum member who has charge of a few sharp  and
> enterprising graduate students ought to turn one of them loose on  a study
> of these bogus and dubious "Mark Twain quotes." Even a light  content
> analysis would be revealing of how we have defined and shaped  our idea of
> Mark Twain and his wisdom through these fictionalized  representations. 
And
> I imagine that the creation of phony Twainisms  has probably accelerated
> wildly since the popularization of the  web.
>
> Judging from the number of us who have responded to this  question about
> these alleged quotations, it appears that there is a  healthy amount of
> curiosity about what he did and did not say; a good  study of this 
subject,
> even a small book, would perform a real  service.
>
> I was recently given a refrigerator magnet, which I  was told was sold at
> the Mark Twain House in Hartford. The magnet  featured a supposed Mark
> Twain quotation, "Denial ain't just a river  in Egypt." I must admit, this
> sounds spurious to me. I didn't know  that "denial" in its modern 
pop-psych
> meaning was all that common 100  years ago. But that is why the whole 
issue
> needs study; how are we to  know if a quotation is real or not?
>
> Paul  Schullery
>
>
>
>
> -----Original  Message-----
> From: <[log in to unmask]  <javascript:;>>
> Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum  <[log in to unmask] <javascript:;>>
> Date: Monday, August 20,  2012 12:36 PM
> To: <[log in to unmask]  <javascript:;>>
> Subject: Re: Twain on  Moderation?
>
> Terry,
>
>
> Oscar Wilde died  too soon; he owes you one.
>
>
> Well said, and happy  retirement!
>
>
> Ben
>
>
> ----- Original  Message -----
> From: "Terry Ballard" <[log in to unmask]  <javascript:;>>
> To: [log in to unmask]  <javascript:;>
> Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 1:48:50 PM
>  Subject: Re: Twain on Moderation?
>
> I used to say "Moderation is  a good thing as long as you don't take it to
> extremes." Sadly as far  as I can tell, Twain didn't say the one about
> moderation in  moderation. When checking out one of these, I usually go to
> Google  Books and search ending in 1920. True that he said some gems in
>  speeches that may not have made it to print in his lifetime, but a  zero
> hit
> count is pretty telling. Unless it turns up in a  speech, this goes to 
that
> mountainous scrap heap of things that sound  like Twain but aren't.
>
> Also, in case anyone out there is  following my adventures, as of the 31st
> I'm removing lines 2-5 on my  sig file below, to be replaced with "Retired
>  Librarian."
>
>
> Terry Ballard
> Assistant Director  of Technical Services for Library Systems
> The New York Law  School
> 185 West Broadway, New York, NY, 10013
>  212-431-2106
> http://www.terryballard.org
> Author of the book  "Google this" http://googlethisforlibraries.com
>
> "My memory has  a mind of its own."
>


-- 


Terry  Ballard
Assistant Director of Technical Services for Library Systems
The  New York Law School
185 West Broadway, New York, NY,  10013
212-431-2106
http://www.terryballard.org
Author of the book  "Google this" http://googlethisforlibraries.com

"My memory has a mind  of its own."