Against The Assault Of Laughter Nothing Can Stand - 827 Words

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. - Samuel Clemens Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, was born November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, the sixth of seven children. An American writer, journalist, and humorist, he is remembered for the novels surrounding the world beside the Mississippi River, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and always legendary Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Clemens was lauded the greatest American humorist of his age and William Faulkner called Twain the father of American literature. Above: Silent film footage taken in 1909 by the Thomas Edison Co. at Stormfield Mark Twain s Redding, CT, estate. See Twain with who are believed to be his daughters, Clara and Jean. This is the only known footage of Twain. Experts believe the film is reversed. When he was four, the Clemens family moved to Hannibal, Missouri. The place and the times later served as Clemen s inspiration for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As a young man, he worked as a typesetter before launching off on his dream of navigating the Mississippi River on paddle wheel steamboats. He piloted boats for three years until the outbreak of the Civil War stopped river traffic in 1861. Clemens went on to serve as a volunteer in the Confederate army for a few weeks before deserting to join his brother, Orion, whose abolitionist views had secured him the position of territorial secretary inShow MoreRelatedLaughter : The Mysterious Stranger And Other Curious Tales1804 Words   |  8 PagesLaughter is powerful. In fact, it was Mark Twain who once said, â€Å"Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand† (Twain, â€Å"The Mysterious Stranger and Other Curious Tales†). 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