First: it does not ring true, for me; does not sound like MT. Second: like Terry, I would also file that one under: fake quotes attributed to a famous, well-liked guy who might have said something vaguely similar to it, at some point. Actually, it occurs to me that Barb should include a page on her site of "psuedo-quotes," or fake quotes or whatever we decide to call them -- I bet we could generate quite a list of fake MT quotes!. ps: I did the great powerpoint years ago that began and ended with a wonderful quote from Thoreau's journal that I had discovered and found deeply relevant for the lecture. Guy comes up at the end -- "you might like to know this, but I doubt that quote is from HDT." Turned out, after a little research, he was right -- and yet that quote is attributed to Thoreau, and quoted widely, according to scores of examples in Google Books. I hated doing it, but I changed the powerpoint .... On Thu, Sep 24, 2015 at 10:40 PM, Mike Pearson <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > =0A= > =0A= > Hi=2C Everyone=2C > Yay=2C or nay? on this Mark Twain quote? =20 > > Someone who likes Mark Twain > is circulating the quote (shown below)=20 > on a graphic poster on Facebook. =20 > (When a quotation is part of a graphic poster=2C=20 > a text search of the web...won't notice how often it appears.) > > If Mark Twain said the quote below=2C where did he say it? > Here's the quote: > "If voting made any difference=2C they wouldn't let us do it." > > I imagine some innocent persons thinking=2C=20 > "Oh no! If Mark Twain says our country's good faith system > is already gone=2C it must be > tru= > e!" > > Others may think=2C "Mark Twain -- what a maroon!" > I felt that statement is too hard-line. =20 > It's one thing to say Congress=20 > and school boards are criminals and idiots=2C which=2C I know=2C he did > say= > =2C > in good humor(?) It's another thing -- more hardline -- to discourage > people from voting. > But=2C did he say it? > Thanks! > > Mike Pearson > Ellensburg=2C Wash.=20 > > = > -- Prof. Harold K. Bush Professor of English 3800 Lindell Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>