Page:Prison-Life Thoughts.djvu/77

Rh shall a man do when he is to write or speak and is out of ideas, and empty of thought? Well, do as the writer now does; write it down, and continue on writing down his empty-brain condition, and by the time he has exposed it all, may be some new thought or idea will present itself. But, suppose such is not the case, what then? I hardly know how to answer this last question, excepting to be uncivil and tell him he is a liar!— What! you call me a liar?—Yes, sir.—How dare you be so rude?—Oh, my dear fellow, I am only telling the naked truth, and I have often heard you say that the truth was never rude, but should always be told; and have you not been writing thoughts and ideas all this time that you were grumbling you had none? Now, what is all this but a lie? Sure enough, I have an idea and a thought—and that is, that it is just as civil to call a man a liar, when he is one, as to call him a saint when he is none. The next time you have no ideas or thoughts, just clap your