Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
In our day we don't allow a hundred and thirty years to elapse between glimpses of a marvel. If somebody should discover a creek in the county next to the one that the North Pole is in, Europe and America would start fifteen costly expeditions thither; one to explore the creek, and the other fourteen to hunt for each other.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the slow progress of exploration and discovery in the past compared to the rapid response expected today.
Mark Twain's quote reflects on the differences in the urgency and excitement of exploration in his time compared to earlier eras. He uses humor to highlight how, in the past, notable discoveries were infrequent and costly, implying that contemporary society is much quicker to act on new findings, suggesting a more dynamic interaction with the world.
Themes
ExplorationDiscoveryChangeAdventureProgress
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a discussion about the pace of scientific discoveries in modern society.
More from Mark Twain
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In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
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