Author: Mark Twain
Narrator: Larry G. Jones
Unabridged: 0 hr 6 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 04/24/2018
This Mark Twain speech is not the origin of his infamous quote. Instead, Twain delivered it as a response to this phrase being used earlier in the evening at a society dinner honoring a certain Mr. Putzel. The speech recounts Twain’s humorous experiences with Putzel, a former bookseller and current New York tax man. In addition to telling an amusing tale, it includes such charming witticisms as, “I don't know of a single foreign product that enters this country untaxed except the answer to prayer.”
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 &ld...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...