Mark Twain on Soliloquy

“Blest, crowned, beatified with this great reward, this golden reward, this unspeakably precious reward, why should I care for men’s cursings and revilings of me? [With a sudden outburst of feeling]. May they roast a million aeons”

“If I had them by the throat! (Hastily kisses the crucifix, and mumbles). In these twenty years I have spent millions to keep the press of the two hemispheres quiet, and still these leaks keep on occurring. I have spent other millions on religion and art, and what do I get for it? Nothing. Not a compliment. These generosities are studiedly ignored, in print, In print I get nothing but slanders – and slanders again – and still slanders, and slanders on top of slanders. Grant them true, what of it? They are slanders all the same when uttered against a king.”