|
I wish I was back there piloting up & down the river again. Verily,
all is vanity and little worth--save piloting. A pilot, in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely independent
human being that lived in the earth. |
 AI image created by R. Kent Rasmussen |
| ...all men--kings & serfs alike--are
slaves to other men & to circumstance--save alone, the pilot--who comes
at no man's back and call, obeys no man's orders & scorns all men's
suggestions. The king would do this thing, & would do that: but a cramped
treasury overmasters him in the one case & a seditious people in the
other. The Senator must hob-nob with canaille whom he despises, & banker,
priest & statesman trim their actions by the breeze of the world's will
& the world's opinion. It is a strange study,--a singular phenomenon,
if you please, that the only real, independent & genuine gentlemen in
the world go quietly up and down the Mississippi river, asking no homage
of any one, seeking no popularity, no notoriety, & not caring a damn
whether school keeps or not. - Letter to Will Bowen, 25 Aug. 1866 |
 |
Quotations | Newspaper Articles | Special Features | Links | Search