>Dear Good Twainiacs: >Twain said, "In heaven, you have to work, and work, to prove yourself, and >if that isn't hell, I don't know what is". Where did he say this. Let me >also explain since somebody quoted this, the exact quote may not be >accurate, so forgive a possible mistake. >Camy I found this to resonate interestingly with a line from Shaw's Don Juan in Hell (a performance reading of which I happen to be involved with at the moment). The Statue (the Commander who was killed by Don Juan and hence went directly to heaven, which bores him to death, so to speak) spends much of the play touting all the reasons for preferring to spend his eternity in hell (where all the best people are), including the fact that, in hell, "written over the gate are the words, 'Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.' Think what a relief that is! For what is hope? A form of moral responsibility. Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what you like. Hell, in short, is a place where you have nothing to do but amuse yourself....You sigh, friend Juan, but if you dwelt in heaven, as I do, you would realize your advantages." Being theologically (as well as literarily) illiterate, I didn't realize that heaven had a reputation for demanding heavy lifting, but I guess this idea was prevalent and appears in Twain as well as Shaw, more or less contemporaneously. Is this of any interest to anyone? Ben