FDR and Mark Twain Quotes, and Why We Love to Quote Them - Historical look at FDR and Mark Twain Quotes and Quotability
|
|
Business Related Topics...
Entertainment, Recreation & Sports Related Topics...
Health & Fitness Related Topics...
Home & Family Related Topics...
You are here: DIME Home > Books and Reviews > FDR and Mark Twain Quotes, and Why We Love to Quote Them
Historical look at FDR and Mark Twain Quotes and Quotability
Author: Paul Thomson
Date: Oct 20, 2009 - 1:35:40 AM
Printer friendly page
Samuel Langhorn Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt don't seem to have especially much in common except for the fact that they are both as American as apple pie – which, true to form, is actually a British concoction. Both have cool nicknames ("Mark Twain" and "FDR"), both died in the same month (April 21, 1910 and April 12, 1945) and both were members of the Masonic Order. The ball's in your court, Dan Brown.
What the two gentlemen really had in common was their overwhelming quotability. For instance, ask your grandmother or grandfather what they remember about December 7th, 1941. Chances are you'll hear something like this:
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
Everyone from the WWII generation remembers FDR's words. Hell, practically everyone from our generation knows them.
Of course, no FDR biography would be complete without the following quote: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." With these words, uttered during his 1933 inaugural address, Roosevelt set a tone of optimism that would come to define his subsequent, let's see, FOUR terms. FDR quotes had a way of making people feel warm and fuzzy, which was not half bad considering that in 1933, 2 million people were homeless, 1 in 4 were jobless, farmers were running on 40% of their income prior to the crash of 1929, and 2/3 of state banks were closed. No wonder Roosevelt decided to keep his polio on the down-low.
While FDR may have been able to convince you to follow him through hell on a lightning bolt, Twain makes you want to pull up a chair, pull out a bottle of… "root" beer, and exchange some absolutely ridiculous stories. Take, for example, the incident where Twain was believed to be drowned:
"You can assure my Virginia friends that I will make an exhaustive investigation of this report that I have been lost at sea. If there is any foundation for the report, I will at once apprise the anxious public. I sincerely hope that there is no foundation for the report, and I also hope that judgment will be suspended until I ascertain the true state of affairs."
Of course, swapping stories isn't what makes a man famous for eternity. Twain was a keen observer as well as a great orator, and humor was his remedy for all social ills:
"There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages."
Twain's most famous work is the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has earned the rank of THE classic American novel not merely because of its witty narration, but also because of its strong moral undercurrent. Huck Finn candidly discusses racism while at the same time making you want to tie four logs together and float down the Mississippi. Being smart, funny, belligerent, and foul-mouthed can only take a person so far; Mark Twain quotes demonstrate that he was also uniquely in touch with reality, and never hesitated to call things as he saw them.
View all articles by Paul Thomson
Old Money vs. New Money in the Great GatsbyMar 21, 2011 - 8:12:20 AM The concept of “new” and “old” money is hard for the average modern reader to understand. In most parts of the country, the term “nouveau riche” isn’t often used, and with the onslaught of new Internet millionaires and billionaires in the last decade, the judgment is certainly no longer there. Today’s America values the self-made man or woman, the “rags to riches” story. A person who makes her own fortune is smart and innovative, an entrepreneur. She’s someone to be admired.... [Read the full story] |
Imagination and Story TellingDec 30, 2010 - 5:22:45 AM A major benefit to encouraging storybook creation and writing in your kids? It stimulates their imaginations.... [Read the full story] |
Joining Online Book ClubsOct 29, 2010 - 5:59:09 AM We all know that books are an important part of our lives. They give us knowledge and information that we need to be able to have a more enriching existence. They can be able to enrich our imagination and creativity and our character as a person. People read because of many reasons. There are those who read to get rid of boredom and be entertained while others do it to gain more knowledge about a certain topic.... [Read the full story] |
Modern-Day Anxieties in T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”Feb 12, 2010 - 7:37:11 AM "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is one of those poems that can seem horribly sad one day, and incredibly absurd the next. Written by T. S. Eliot and published in 1915, it addresses the themes of isolation, industrialized cities, and great unease with the world. You might have encountered this in a unit on poetry, and like many students, you might not have been impressed by its long-windedness. For all its over-the-top wallowing around, though, there is a lot in the poem that speaks to anxieties we have today.... [Read the full story] |
| Search for articles: |
|
|
 Putting Up a Small Commercial Printing Business |
| So You Might Be Unemployed And Desire To Become A San Francisco Real Estate Investor Now |
| Meditation and Mindfulness: Dealing With Emotion |
| CPA Websites: Five Essential Ideas for Composing Convincing Articles |
| Set Goals In Order to Come Up With Your Action Plan |
| Is the Air in Your Home Safe to Breathe? |
| Coarse Fishing Tackle Review: The JW Young 13ft Trotter Rod |
| Section 1031 Exchanges For San Diego Real Estate Investors |
| Phoenix Real Estate Investing For Highest Possible Earnings |
| Legendary are the Volk Racing TE37 Wheels |
| Developing the Next Generation Wall Station (ChaseDesk™) for Healthcare - A Case Study |
| What are step down transformers? |
| Introducing Sharehype, the Revolutionary Tool for Online Marketers |
| Rewards To Shopping For Austin Real Estate On The Web |
| Hydroponics for Beginners |
Would you like submit your articles and have them approved on a priority status? Find out more about how you can become a Priority author for pennies a day! Click here.
|
| Dime-co.com Home |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
About
Featured Authors
Subscribe to our RSS feed for immediate alerts