Author: Mark Twain
Narrator: Larry G. Jones
Unabridged: 0 hr 7 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 05/20/2018
Mark Twain gave this speech at an event honoring Andrew Carnegie, who helped found the Simplified Spelling Board. Twain mentions how uncomfortable it is to only receive compliments when one is the guest of honor, so he critiques Carnegie’s “pestiferous” ideas about spelling reform. In doing so, he provides his own suggestions for fixing “this present silly alphabet, which I fancy was invented by a drunken thief.” This speech is a fine example of the brazen humor that made Twain himself famous.
At his seventieth birthday party, Mark Twain delivered this delightful retrospective of his life. He dished out sarcastic advice on how he’d made it so far, discussing diet, sleep, cigars, alcohol, and exercise, among other topics. In the end,...
Mark Twain delivered this speech at the dedication of new buildings at the College of the City of New York. The mayor who preceded him mentioned that good citizenship should take precedence even over education. Twain uses this introduction to transi...
Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, during his second inauguration as president of the United States. At a time when victory over the secessionists in the American Civil War was within days and slavery was near a...
Mark Twain delivered this speech after following a toast made to “the ladies.” In it, he praises women for their contributions both large and small to history and society. “Take any type of woman,” he says, “and you sha...
From Socrates to Charles I, Danton to Lincoln – here are some of history’s most significant figures with their most important speeches. Fighting for justice, for freedom of speech, and sometimes even for their own lives, these ...
Mark Twain was commissioned to deliver this speech before the virgin voyage of the St. Paul steamship. On the day of its scheduled departure from Philadelphia to England, however, it could not be moved. Had Twain delivered it, this is among the char...
Theodore Roosevelt Jr., often referred to as Teddy Roosevelt was an American statesman, politician, conservationist, naturalist, and writer, who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as 33rd govern...
In this speech, Mark Twain muses on the capricious nature of man’s memory, particularly regarding how he views his past. To illustrate, he tells a tale from this youth about the time he stole a watermelon only to open it and discover it was gr...
When prompted to give a speech at his sixty-seventh birthday party, Mark Twain was at no loss for wit. Several notable individuals proceeded him, heaping compliments upon him, so Twain began his speech by saying, “You cannot talk on compliment...