Mark Twain – America's Spirit of Independence Day

America’s greatest truth teller and spirit of Independence Day was Samuel langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) whose fierce independence and homespun humor personified the true American spirit before it was eventually diminished by greed, lies, unjust wars and apathy

by Allen L Roland

• Born: November 30, 1835 (with Halley’s Comet)
• Died: April 21, 1910 (also with Halley’s Comet…Twain predicted that his own death would occur with the return of the comet)
• Nationality: American
• Education: Very little, other than self-education in a library
• Occupation: Printer’s apprentice, typesetter, printer, steam boat pilot, miner, actor, author, humorist, inventor
• Interests/Hobbies: Cats, dogs, gadgets, parapsychology, science, travel and pundit on all things American.

 “The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivalry of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise.”  Mark Twain
 Here are a few of my favorite Twain quotes;
 On Patriotism ~
 Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.
On Love ~
 The heart is the real Fountain of Youth. — Notebook, 1898
When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.– Notebook, 1898
The heart is the real Fountain of Youth. — Notebook, 1898

Love is not a product of reasonings and statistics. It just comes none knows whence and cannot explain itself.– Eve’s Diary
On Education and the wonder of Discovery                                                                                
Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned. — Notebook, 1898
What is it that confers the noblest delight? What is that which swells a man’s breast with pride above that which any other experience can bring to him? Discovery! To know that you are walking where none others have walked; that you are beholding what human eye has not seen before; that you are breathing a virgin atmosphere. To give birth to an idea ~ to discover a great thought. — Innocents Abroad
 ( Note that this was exactly what I felt when I walked into a precognitive vision of the Golden Gate bridge from Fort Mason, San Francisco in 1987~ a vision that I originally had at 6 years old while living in New England ~ and KNEW in that instant that I was in a Unified Field of love and soul consciousness that existed beyond time and space and my task was to own it with the world )
On Congress
CONGRESS: The only “Distinctly Native American Criminal Class”. — from The Devil’s Dictionary
“No country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law, and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more.”– The Gilded Age
It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them. — Following The Equator
On War
“Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.” …The Mysterious Stranger
By and by when each nation has 20,000 battleships and 5,000,000 soldiers we shall all be safe and the wisdom of statesmanship will stand confirmed. — Notebook, 1902
“Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out … and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel …. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for “the universal brotherhood of man” ~ with his mouth”
On Nature
Change is the handmaiden Nature requires to do her miracles with. — Roughing It
But it was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that revealed the childlike wondrous heart that existed within Mark Twain as well as his profound connection to nature ~ and his words touched the innocent and adventurous hearts of millions, including myself, who also sensed the miracles that Tom Sawyer witnessed ~ “It was the cool gray dawn, and there was a delicious sense of repose and peace in the deep pervading calm and silence of the woods. Not a leaf stirred; not a sound obtruded upon great Nature’s meditation ~ Gradually the cool dim gray of the morning whitened, and as gradually sounds multiplied and life manifested itself. The marvel of Nature shaking off sleep and going to work unfolded itself to the musing boy ~ All Nature was wide awake and stirring, now; long lances of sunlight pierced down through the dense foliage far and near, and a few butterflies came fluttering upon the scene.” Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Here’s the trailer for the original Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1938 ~ two minute video   

Now Journey to Arrow Rock Missouri for an old fashioned 4th of July celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the filming of the Hollywood classic, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. Actors Johnny Whitaker and Jeff East recall what it was like to play Tom and Huck in the great outdoors of central Missouri. Uploaded on Jun 30, 2010 / 3 minute video

Happy Independence day but as Mark Twain wrote ~ The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it — Adventures of Tom Sawyer

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist. He is also a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his web site at AllenRoland.com. He also guest hosts a Truthtalk, a national radio show that airs monthly. He is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations via email at [email protected].

Allen L Roland, PhD

Allen L Roland, PhD is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist. He is also a heart-centered spiritual consultant, author, and lecturer who also shares a weekly political and social commentary on his website at AllenRoland.com. He also guest hosts Truthtalk, a national radio show that airs monthly. He is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements as well as private consultations via email at [email protected].

Roland is a twin who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, survived a dysfunctional family, pursued and lived his dreams, including becoming a Navy supersonic carrier pilot, finding himself by fully opening his heart, writing three books, siring four children ~ and still living his ultimate dream by making a difference from a place of love, celebration, and service.

His Ph.D. dissertation THE UNIFIED FIELD was chosen by Common Boundary and Noetic Science Institute, in their 1998 national dissertation contest, as one of the top three finalists for combining spirituality and psychology. His ongoing heart-centered work as a consultant with veterans with PTSD is the most satisfying work of his life. Allen’s online newsletter, columns, and radio broadcasts are committed to the truth ~ as he sees it ~ for only the truth is revolutionary.