Mark Twain the Comedian

I was reading a book about Mark Twain which included some excerpts from his publication The Innocents Abroad, which is his travelogue written about the Middle East. I never realized it before, but Samuel Clements, aka Twain, is a pretty funny guy.

Twain on visiting the city of Damascus, discussing their women: "and women so ugly they couldn't smile after ten o'clock Saturday night without breaking the Sabbath."

Twain on his disappointment about the small size of the Sea of Galilee, suggesting it was so tiny that he did not want to pay the boat fare to cross. "Is it any wonder that Christ walked?"

Twain on the dreary scenery of Palestine "If all the poetry ... upon the ... bland scenery of this region were collected in a book, it would make a most valuable volume to burn."

Agree or disagree with his writing, you have to admit his social commentary of the day has hidden zingers that are pretty funny.