Mark Twain? Merle Johnson? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain has received credit for the following slyly comical remark justifying thievery:
It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected.
I have not found this statement in any of the stories or essays authored by Twain. Is this quotation genuine?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match for this saying located by QI appeared in the book “More Maxims of Mark”. This slim volume was compiled by Merle Johnson and privately printed in November 1927. Only fifty first edition copies were created, and a friend of QI’s accessed copy number 14 in the The Rubenstein Rare Book Library at Duke University. Below is the saying under investigation together with the preceding and succeeding entries. Adages in the work were presented in uppercase. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1]1927, More Maxims of Mark by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Compiled by Merle Johnson, Quote Page 9, First edition privately printed November 1927; Number 14 of 50 copies. (Verified with page images … Continue reading
IT IS NOT BEST TO USE OUR MORALS WEEKDAYS, IT GETS THEM OUT OF REPAIR FOR SUNDAY.
IT IS BETTER TO TAKE WHAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU THAN TO LET IT LIE AROUND NEGLECTED.
IS A PERSON’S PUBLIC AND PRIVATE OPINION THE SAME? IT IS THOUGHT THERE HAVE BEEN INSTANCES.
Merle Johnson was a rare book collector, and he published the first careful bibliography of Twain’s works in 1910 shortly after the writer’s death. Twain scholars believe that the sayings compiled by Johnson in “More Maxims of Mark” are properly ascribed to Twain.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
References
↑1 | 1927, More Maxims of Mark by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Compiled by Merle Johnson, Quote Page 9, First edition privately printed November 1927; Number 14 of 50 copies. (Verified with page images from the Rubenstein Library at Duke University; special thanks to Mike) |
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