Samuel Clements aka Mark Twain, a reprint from Harpers Magazine, 1899
I
If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute roughly one per cent of the human race, a nebulous meaningless and insignificant puff of star dust, lost ii the blaze of the Milk way (as an asteroid passes in our galaxy) II
Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extremely out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk.
III
His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, law, finance, medicine, technology, and abstract learning are also out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.
IV
He has made a marvelous fight in this world; ad all the time, he has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself and be excused for it.
The Egyptians, the Babylonians the Persians rose: filled the planet with their sound and splendor, then faded dream stuff and passed away.
The Greeks and then the Romans followed, and made a vast noise and they are gone.
V
Other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a while, but it burned out, and they sit in the twilight now, or have vanished.
VI
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 part, no slowing of his energies. No dulling of his alert and aggressive mind.
VIII
All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains.
What is the secret of his immortality?
The city that never sleeps, March 4, 2014
