Twain never said it. The quote is actually ‘I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction.’ It was written by Clarence Darrow, attorney in the Scopes monkey trials, in his autobiography ‘The Story of My Life.’

Tweeting Twain Quotes That Never Were, regarding the recently popular pseudo-Twain quote “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” (via nickdouglas)

Oops.  I guess I helped nudge that particular meme along.

Reblogged from Lapham's Quarterly
  1. origamiunicorn reblogged this from laphamsquarterly
  2. thekittles reblogged this from nprfreshair
  3. caro28 reblogged this from nprfreshair
  4. abbyarmbruster reblogged this from nprfreshair
  5. mothsarefluffy reblogged this from dendroica
  6. anothersoandso reblogged this from dendroica
  7. dendroica reblogged this from misterjt
  8. misterjt reblogged this from nprfreshair
  9. authorlauralee reblogged this from nprfreshair
  10. talesofaniceberg reblogged this from nprfreshair
  11. theyeatthemweeping reblogged this from nprfreshair
  12. frameface reblogged this from nprfreshair
  13. vanasshole reblogged this from kentsarrow
  14. missmarauder reblogged this from libraryland
  15. azaraaraza reblogged this from nprfreshair
  16. assortedcrazy reblogged this from nprfreshair
  17. jdotcole reblogged this from splendidbauble
  18. adrianne44 reblogged this from nprfreshair
  19. oftheshipisland reblogged this from nprfreshair and added:
    Interesting…I hereby withdraw my pseudo-Twain quote?
  20. killerkaleidoscope reblogged this from kentsarrow
  21. sarka reblogged this from nprfreshair and added:
    thing about the coldest winter being...summer in San Francisco?
  22. 3searchingforpeace3 reblogged this from nprfreshair and added:
    yessssssssss. even some quote book quotes are not accurate.
  23. muchcoffee reblogged this from nprfreshair
  24. jennider reblogged this from nprfreshair
  25. magdalina reblogged this from nprfreshair and added:
    University of Georgia School of Law Professor Ed Larson wrote a great book about Clarence Darrow. Other great Clarence...