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Two days overdue, THE WORLD'S WORK has not reached me. Pray make a note of this. I would rather not have to resort to violence.
Mark Twain
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote expresses frustration with delays and hints at the potential for drastic reactions if issues remain unresolved.

Mark Twain's quote reflects the human experience with impatience and the tension that arises when expectations are not met. It illustrates how delays can lead to frustration, and the mention of 'resorting to violence' underscores the seriousness of the implications when persistent issues, like unfulfilled obligations, are ignored. Twain uses humor and irony to highlight the absurdity of taking extreme actions over something as mundane as missing communication.

Themes

FrustrationCommunicationDelaysViolenceExpectations

In practice

Example use cases

A speaker at a conference quoting Twain to emphasize the importance of timely communication.

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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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