Tag Archives: Mark Twain

“I Did Not Attend the Funeral, but I Sent a Nice Letter Saying I Approved of it.”

- Mark Twain / Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar

(This quote, like many witty quotes, is often wrongly ascribed to Mark Twain, though it was actually Hoar to whom it should be attributed, as the website “Quote Investigator” details. Twain’s place in our collective imagination continues to earn him … Continue reading

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“At the Funeral” by Mark Twain

Mark Twain offers us some lighthearted guidance on how to act at a funeral in his 1881 essay “At The Funeral”

For some, death has a unique way of not only modifying your perspective of a person but also altering your understanding of your own relationship with him or her. You may find that suddenly, after passing, an acquaintance has become … Continue reading

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”Suggestion to persons entering heaven: leave your dog outside. Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and the dog would go in.”

-Mark Twain
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Illuminating Death through Art

Capuchin burial traditions teach us how to face death without fear

When one thinks of strange funerary traditions, the unique practices of the Capuchin monks may come to mind. This small sect of Catholic Franciscan monks was established in 1525 in the Umbria province in Italy, and while their general reformation … Continue reading

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Most people can’t bear to sit in church for an hour on Sundays…

How are they supposed to live somewhere very similar to it for eternity?

– Mark Twain Image by Prashanth dotcompals (Creative Commons)

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“Most quotes are fake, including this one.”

-Mark Twain
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