Mark Twain - "Then
away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes
when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make
itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go
about that way every night grieving."
What Would Samuel
Clements Think About Bigfoot?
Mark
Twain on the Mysteries Of Life
By
Dorraine Fisher
Growing
up in an Illinois river town, I guess I can relate to an author like Mark Twain
who told stories of that life so eloquently. Many Twain novels paint elements
of a picture of life on the river that I clearly remember myself. Including legends of ghosts and monsters and
mysterious events that remain firmly planted in the culture to this day.
But
we often forget that Mark Twain, the famed author of The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer and The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn was a philosopher first; a bit
hardened by the life he led as Samuel Clements, one of only three survivors of
a family of seven children who later lost his father when he was only 11 years
old.
He later became a printer and typesetter who
educated himself at night through use of the local library. He was a
Confederate army deserter of sorts through his own admission, as he claimed to
have formed a company of his own and then disbanded a couple weeks later
because his heart wasn’t in the cause.
And he was master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi, an atmosphere
entrenched in Native American legends,
endless ghost stories, and wild man tales centered around the many caves
along the river that were later injected into his early novel The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer. And all this before he
traveled west to Nevada, failed as a gold miner, and eventually became a
journalist for the Virginia City
Territorial Enterprise.
If
you’ve ever had the privilege to explore his many writings, it becomes obvious
that his mind expanded with every piece as he completed each chapter in his
life. Each giving a glimpse into the things he might have believed about the
world.
But
what would such an intelligent, insightful man think about those subjects often
classified as paranormal today? None of
us can know for sure, but a couple of his quotes offer a glimpse:
“When we remember we are all
mad, the mysteries of life disappear and life stands explained.”
- From one of Twain’s notebooks, 1898
“Some things you can't find out; but you will never
know you can't by guessing and supposing; no, you
have to be patient and go on experimenting until you
find out that you can't find out. And it is delightful
to have it that
way, it makes the world so interesting. If there wasn't anything to find out,
it would be
dull. Even trying to find out and not finding out is
just as interesting as trying to find out and finding
out, and I don't know but more so.”
–
Eve's
Diary
I guess everyone can decide
for themselves. *******
[TCC
- Dorraine Fisher is a freelance writer and nature and wildlife
enthusiast.She is also a TCC Team Member]
©The Crypto Crew
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