Mark Twain, a Biography — Volume II, Part 1: 1886-1900

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mark Twain, A Biography, Vol. 2, Part 1, 1875-1886, by Albert Bigelow Paine
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Title: Mark Twain, A Biography, Vol. 2, Part 1, 1875-1886 The Personal And Literary Life Of Samuel Langhorne
Clemens
Author: Albert Bigelow Paine
Release Date: August 21, 2006 [EBook #2984]
Language: English
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Produced by David Widger
MARK TWAIN, A BIOGRAPHY
By Albert Bigelow Paine
VOLUME II, Part 1: 1875-1886
CV
MARK TWAIN AT FORTY
In conversation with John Hay, Hay said to Clemens:
"A man reaches the zenith at forty, the top of the hill. From that time forward he begins to descend. If you have any great
undertaking ahead, begin it now. You will never be so capable again."
Of course this was only a theory of Hay's, a rule where rules do not apply, where in the end the problem resolves itself into
a question of individualities. John Hay did as great work after forty as ever before, so did Mark Twain, and both of them
gained in intellectual strength and public honor to the very end.
Yet it must have seemed to many who knew him, and to himself, like enough, that Mark Twain at forty had reached the
pinnacle of his fame and achievement. His name was on every ...