Humorous Motivational Keynote Speaker Chicago

Mark Twain on Congress and Vultures

Buy Autographed Copy of

Mark Twain on Congress and Vultures

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” – Mark Twain, a Biography: Albert Bigelow Paine

Mark Twain on Congress and Vultures

I am often asked by readers of Suppose You Were an Idiot… Mark Twain on Politics and Polticians, what would the great humorist (and acerbic commentator) say of the current set of  geniuses we have in Congress.

Would he repeat what he wrote in The Gilded Age about the “vultures that now infest the filthy den called Congress?”

As a man who had a decidedly jaundiced view of politicians, he likely would not be surprised at the shenanigans that we see today. One thing is certain. His comments are as appropriate now as they were when he made them many years ago.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. 

“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”  

—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar.

 

Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a Congressman can. 

 What is man?

 

 

In The Gilded Age he writes humorously about the childlike members of Congress.

 “That is true, Colonel. To be sure you can buy now and then a Senator or a Representative but they do not know it is wrong, and so they are not ashamed of it. They are gentle, and confiding and childlike, and in my opinion these are qualities that ennoble them far more than any amount of sinful sagacity could.” 

 ❖ ❖ ❖

Purchase your autographed copy of:  

Suppose You Were an Idiot… Mark Twain on Politics and Polticians by Conor Cunneen

***

Conor Cunneen is also author

What Mark Twain Learned Me ’bout Public Speakin’

“When I say I’ll learn (‘Teach’ is not in the river vocabulary) a man the river, I mean it. And you can depend on it, I’ll learn him or kill him.” Life on the Mississippi  – Mark Twain

Utilizing a unique and memorable MARK TWAIN acronym, author Conor Cunneen demonstrates what the Dean of American Humorists learned him bout public speakin !

MARK ——– BEFORE you go on stage

Message preparation

Audience research and knowledge

Relate to audience

Know your objective

TWAIN ——— ON STAGE

Titter and humor wins the audience

Wait – The power of the Pause

Anecdotes connect

Involve, Inform, Inspire your audience

Narration and stagecraft.

BUY: What Mark Twain Learned Me ’bout Public Speakin’

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxx