The Urge To Give

Mark Twain often used his quick wit to prick people’s social consciences. He once said, “Man is the only animal that blushes — or needs to.” “Good breeding,” he explained, “consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.” On “truth-telling,” he pointed out that “one of the most startling differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.” On “friendship,” he cynically observed: “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.” A businessman of questionable ethics once said to Twain, “Before I die, I mean to climb to the top of Mount Sinai and read the ten commandments aloud.” To which Twain replied, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay here and keep them?” Perhaps closer to home for many of us, are these words attributed…