I Have A Suicide Impulse.

If We Want To Understand The Actions Of A Man In The Early 1860's, Put Yourself Back There In His Shoes. As A Young Man He Began Piloting Steamboats On The Mississippi, A Job He Loved And Wanted To Do The Rest Of His Life, He Said. The Civil War Ended Traffic On The River And His Job. He Wrote About It In A History Of A Campaign That Failed. He Said: "i Joined The Confederacy, Served For Two Weeks, Deserted, And The Confederacy Fell." His Attachment To The Southern Ideal Of Slavery Does Not Appear Very Sturdy.

[mark] Twain Is Pointing At You. You, The Reader Of The Book One Hundred And Thirty Years Ago And Today. That Is What Has Made It A Great American Novel And The Most Widely Read Book In American Literature Around The World Today.

I Don't Have A Director. The Audience Directs Me.

We Live In A Democracy. We Have This Extraordinary Opportunity To Use Our Mind And Say What We Think, Speak As We Think. Sometimes What We Say Is Objectionable To Other People. But That Is Part Of A Free Society

Look, See, Learn, Become A Citizen Of Mankind, Not Just Hannibal, Missouri. That Is The Message Of [mark] Twain.