Thoughts on { Billiards | Mark Twain, 1835-1910
Mark Twain playing billiard, 1908
“The billiard table is better than the doctor.”
“This is a most amusing game. When you play badly it amuses me, and
when I play badly and lose my temper it certainly must amuse you.”
“The poorer you play, the better I shall like it.”
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), taken by Albert Bigelow Paine
“The game of billiards has destroyed my naturally sweet disposition. Once, when I was an underpaid reporter in Virginia City, whenever I wished to play billiards I went out to look for an easy mark. One day a stranger came to town and opened a billiard parlor. I looked him over casually. When he proposed a game, I answered, “All right.”
“Just knock the balls around a little so that I can get your gait,” he said; and when I had done so, he remarked: “I will be perfectly fair with you. I’ll play you left-handed.” I felt hurt, for he was cross-eyed, freckled, and had red hair, and I determined to teach him a lesson. He won first shot, ran out, took my half-dollar, and all I got was the opportunity to chalk my cue.
“If you can play like that with your left hand,” I said, “I’d like to see you play with your right.”
“I can’t,” he said. “I’m left-handed.”
Mark Twain, 1906
Source: PBS
Mark Twain playing billiard, 1908
Also:
Instant Views [o.] Billiard Players | Photos by F. Horvat / É. Boubat / R. Doisneau / D. Weiner / Diane Arbus / W. Miller / M. Gramlich (1900 -1964)
Billiard Players | Paintings by James Ensor / Honore Daumier / Edgar Degas / Paul Gauguin / Milton Avery / Vincent van Gogh / Varvara Stepanova (1876 -1933)
Persons [ ] Ideas out of thin air | The Friendship of Mark Twain & Nikola Tesla, 1895
