Page:Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field.djvu/222

 STRAY SAYINGS OF MARK "I hate editors, for they make me abandon a lot of perfectly good English words."—To Campbell-Bannerman at the Metropole Hotel, Vienna.

"There are no common people except in the highest spheres of society."—After attending a court function in Berlin.

"Wit, by itself, is of little account. It becomes of moment only when grounded on wisdom."—Talks at the Berlin Legation.

After paying off his creditors (in January, 1898) Mark Twain got, for a while, very gay and wanted to buy everything in sight. He was actually going around looking for "good things to plant money on." Some friends thought it their duty to warn him, but he shut them up with the remark:

"Don*t alarm your sweet self—no more typesetting and Webster business for me. I never buy anything nowadays that I can't afford to pay spot cash for."

"How much time do you suppose you have gained by writing '&' for 'and', papa?" asked Jean one afternoon at tea.

"Not enough to waste it on answers to foolish questions," replied her father severely.

Then he gave her a dollar, kissed her and sent her away rejoicing. 218