Joan’s Reward
The fantastic dream, the incredible dream, the impossible dream of the peasant child stood fulfilled; the English power was broken, the heir of France was crowned.
She was like one transfigured, so divine was the joy that shone in her face as she sank to her knees at the king’s feet and looked up at him through her tears. Her lips were quivering, and her words came soft and low and broken:
“Now, O gentle king, is the pleasure of God accomplished according to his command that you should come to Rheims and receive the crown that belongeth of right to you, and unto none other. My work which was given me to do is finished; give me your peace, and let me go back to my mother, who is poor and old, and has need of me.”
The king raised her up, and there before all that host he praised her great deeds in most noble terms; and there he confirmed her nobility and titles, making her the equal of a count in rank, and also appointed a household and officers for her according to her dignity; and then he said:
“You have saved the crown. Speak—require—demand; and whatsoever grace you ask it shall be granted, though it make the kingdom poor to meet it.”
Now that was fine, that was loyal. Joan was on her knees again straightway, and said:
“Then, O gentle king, if out of your compassion you will speak the word, I pray you give commandment that my village, poor and hard-pressed by reason of the war, may have its taxes remitted.”
“It is so commanded. Say on.”
“That is all.”
“All? Nothing but that?”
“It is all. I have no other desire.”
“But that is nothing—less than nothing. Ask—do not be afraid.”
“Indeed, I cannot, gentle king. Do not press me. I will not have aught else, but only this alone.”
The king seemed nonplussed, and stood still a moment, as if trying to comprehend and realize the full stature of this strange unselfishness. Then he raised his head and said:
“She has won a kingdom and crowned its king; and all she asks and all she will take is this poor grace—and even this is for others, not for herself. And it is well; her act being proportioned to the dignity of one who carries in her head and heart riches which outvalue any that any king could add, though he gave his all. She shall have her way. Now, therefore, it is decreed that from this day forth Domremy, natal village of Joan of Arc, Deliverer of France, called the Maid of Orleans, is freed from all taxation forever.”
FROM “SAINT JOAN OF ARC” (1899)
There is no one to compare her with, none to measure her by; for all others among the illustrious grew towards their high place in an atmosphere and surroundings which discovered their gift to them and nourished it and promoted it, intentionally or unconsciously. There have been other young generals, but they were not girls; young generals, but they have been soldiers before they were generals: she began as a general. She commanded the first army she ever saw; she led it from victory to victory, and never lost a battle with it; there have been young commanders-in-chief, but none so young as she: she is the only soldier in history who has held the supreme command of a nation’s armies at the age of seventeen.
FROM “FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR”
Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar
(1896–7)
A man may have no bad habits and have worse.
When in doubt, tell the truth.
It is more trouble to make a maxim than it is to do right.
A dozen direct censures are easier to bear than one morganatic compliment.
Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.
He was as shy as a newspaper is when referring to its own merits.
Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.
It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.
It is your human environment that makes climate.
Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of Humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.
We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it—and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again—and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one any more.
There are those who scoff at the schoolboy, calling him frivolous and shallow. Yet it was the schoolboy who said, “Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.”
We can secure other people’s approval, if we do right and try hard; but our own is worth a hundred of it, and no way has been found out of securing that.
Truth is stranger than fiction—to some people, but I am measurably familiar with it. Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.
There is a Moral Sense, and there is an Immoral Sense. History shows us that the Moral Sense enables us to perceive morality and how to avoid it, and that the Immoral Sense enables us to perceive immorality and how to enjoy it.
The English are mentioned in the Bible: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
It is easier to stay out than to get out.
Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead.
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.
Man will do many things to get himself loved, he will do all things to get himself envied.
Nothing is so ignorant as a man’s left hand, except a lady’s watch.
Be careless in your dress if you must, but keep a tidy soul.
There is no such thing as “the Queen’s English.” The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares.
“Classic.” A book which people praise and don’t read.
There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one: keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy.
Man is the Only Animal that Blushes. Or needs to.
The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession, what there is of it.
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet deep down in his private heart no man much respects himself.
Nature makes the locust with an appetite for crops: man would have made him with an appetite for sand.
The spirit of wrath—not the words—is the sin; and the spirit of wrath is cursing. We begin to swear before we can talk.
The man with a new idea is a Crank till the idea succeeds.
Let us be grateful to Adam our benefactor. He cut us out of the “blessing” of idleness and won for us the “curse” of labor.
Let us not be too particular. It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all.
The Autocrat of Russia possesses more power than any other man in the earth; but he cannot stop a sneeze.
There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.
Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name Bzjxxllwcp is pronounced Jackson.
To succeed in the other trades, capacity must be shown; in the law, concealment of it will do.
Prosperity is the best protector of principle.
By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man’s, I mean.
Few of us can stand prosperity. Another man’s, I mean.
There is an old time toast which is golden for its beauty. “When you ascend the hill of prosperity may you not meet a friend.”
Each person is born to one possession which outvalues all his others—his last breath.
Hunger is the handmaid of genius.
The old saw says, “Let a sleeping dog lie.” Right. Still, when there is much at stake it is better to get a newspaper to do it.
It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart; the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you.
If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?
Simple rules for saving money: To save half, when you are fired by an eager impulse to contribute to a charity, wait, and count forty. To save three-quarters, count sixty. To save it all, count sixty-five.
Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
He had had much experience of physicians, and said “the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d druther not.”
The man who is ostentatious of his modesty is twin to the statue that wears a fig-leaf.
Let me make the superstitions of a nation and I care not who makes its laws or its songs either.
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
Do not undervalue the headache. While it is at its sharpest it seems a bad investment; but when relief begins the unexpired remainder is worth $4.00 a minute.
True irreverence is disrespect to another man’s god.
There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can.
She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.
Make it a point to do something every day that you don’t want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.
Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Often, the surest way to convey misinformation is to tell the truth.
Satan (impatiently) to Newcomer: The trouble with you Chicago people is, that you think you are the best people down here; whereas you are merely the most numerous.
In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.
There are no people who are quite so vulgar as the over-refined ones.
In statesmanship get the formalities right, never mind about the moralities.
Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.
There isn’t a Parallel of Latitude but thinks it would have been the Equator if it had had its rights.
I have traveled more than any one else, and I have noticed that even the angels speak English with an accent.