When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a steamboatman. We had transient ambitions of other sorts, but they were only transient. When a circus came and went, it left us all burning to become clowns; the first negro minstrel show that came to our section left us all suffering to try that kind of life; now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. These ambitions faded out, each in its turn; but the ambition to be a steamboatman always remained.
—Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
A deadly viper once bit a hole snipe's hide; But 'twas the viper, not the snipe, that died.
- Dave
- El Paso, Texas, United States
- Native Texan · Navy Veteran · Various Scars and Tattoos · Never Schooled Yet Learned