- The Jew
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- Mark Twain - Harper's Bazaar, Sept. 1899
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- "If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one
percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star
dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly
be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of.
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- He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his
commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the
smallness of his bulk.
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- His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature,
science, art, music, finance, medicine, and obtuse learning are also
way out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.
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- He has made a marvelous fight in this world in all the ages, and has
done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself
and be excused for it.
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- The Egyptians, the Babylonians, and the Persians rose, filled the
planet with sound and splendor, and faded to dream stuff and passed
away. The Greeks and the Romans followed and made a vast noise and
they are gone. Other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high
for a time. But it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have
vanished.
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- The Jew saw them all. Beat them all, and is now what he always was,
exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his
parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and
aggressive mind.
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- All things are mortal but the Jew.
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- All other forces pass, but he remains.
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- What is the secret of his immortality?..."
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