Of all persons who are objects of our charity, none move my compassion like those whom it has pleased God to leave in a full state health and strength, but deprived of reason to act…

Mark Twain From video 1909 by Thomas Edison I was always heedless. I was born heedless; and therefore I was constantly, and quite unconsciously, committing breaches of the minor proprieties, which brought upon me humiliations…

Robert Louis Stevenson by Girolamo Nerli Le Monastier is the chief place of a hilly canton in Haute Loire, the ancient Velay.  As the name betokens, the town is of monastic origin; and it still…

THIS is not a country of equal fortunes; outside a Socialist's dream no such country exists or can exist. But as nearly as possible this is a country of equal opportunities for those who begin…

Robert Louis Stevenson by Girolamo Nerli Two things are necessary in any neighbourhood where we propose to spend a life: a desert and some living are many parts of the earth’s face which offer the…

This is from this morning's paper: Mark Twain Letter Sold. Written to Thomas Nast, it Proposed a Joint Tour. "Brains" by Thomas Nast A Mark Twain autograph letter brought $43 yesterday at the auction by…

Dosso Dossi An ancient and famous human institution is in pressing danger. Sir George Campbell has set his face against the time-honoured practice of Falling in Love. Parents innumerable, it is true, have set their…

As concerns tobacco, there are many superstitions. And the chiefest is this—that there is a STANDARD governing the matter, whereas there is nothing of the kind. Each man's own preference is the only standard for…

That which Education is to the Individual, Revelation is to the Race. 2 Education is Revelation coming to the Individual Man; and Revelation is Education which has come, and is yet coming, to the Human…

Sir, —Among men of Genius, and especially among Poets, there are some to whom we turn with a peculiar and unfeigned affection; there are others whom we admire rather than love. By some we are…

"Does Fortune favor fools? Or how do you explain the origin of the proverb, which, differently worded, is to be found in all the languages of Europe?" This proverb admits of various explanations, according to…

Definition—Two Types—Dramatic Short Story—Atmospheric Short Story—Origins—Assumed Unity and Singleness of Effect of Dramatic Short Story—General Technique of Form—Characterization—Interest and Too Great Simplicity—Limitation upon Complexity—Length—Coherence of Form—Compression. A story is a fiction with a plot, as…

Keeping Christmas  by Henry Van Dyke   Romans, xiv, 6: He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord   It is a good thing to observe Christmas day. The mere marking of times…

Getting Up On Cold Mornings  by Leigh Hunt An Italian author--Giulio Cordara, a Jesuit--has written a poem upon insects, which he begins by insisting, that those troublesome and abominable little animals were created for our…

On the Decay of the Art of Lying  by Mark Twain   An Essay for Discussion, read at a meeting of the historical and Antiquarian Club of Hartford, and offered for the Thirty-Dollar Prize. Now…

In the elder English dramatists, and mainly in the plays Of Beaumont and Fletcher, there is a constant recognition of gentility, as if a noble behavior were as easily marked in the society of their…

How to Draw Lightning from the Clouds by Benjamin Franklin As frequent mention is made in public papers from Europe of the success of the Philadelphia experiment for drawing the electric fire from clouds by…

Literary Composition H. P. Lovecraft In a former article our readers have been shewn the fundamental sources of literary inspiration, and the leading prerequisites to expression. It remains to furnish hints concerning expression itself; its…

"Me, already, as the tragic poet would say, the voice of fate calls. Soon I must drink the poison; and I think that I had better repair to the bath first, in order that the…

The Death of My Wife by Mark Twain To-morrow will be the thirty-sixth anniversary of our marriage. My wife passed from this life one year and eight months ago, in Florence, Italy, after an unbroken…

MR. HOOD. SIR,— The Constitution is going at last! You needn't laugh, Mr. Hood. I am aware that it has been going, two or three times before; perhaps four times; but it is on the…

Top 10 Things Not to Do on Halloween These are the Top 10 things that get you killed in horror movies. Avoid them and you'll be fine. 10. Go looking for strange noises in the…

 THE UNKNOWN BRAIN by Elliott O'Donnell Whether all that constitutes man's spiritual nature, that is to say, ALL his mind, is inseparably amalgamated with the whitish mass of soft matter enclosed in his cranium and…