Life on the Mississippi

“The Mississippi is well worth reading about. It is not a commonplace river, but on the contrary is in all ways remarkable. Considering the Missouri, its main branch, it is the longest river in the world—four thousand three hundred miles.”

This sentence encapsulates Twain’s approach to the Mississippi River by highlighting how exceptional the river is; the Mississippi River surpasses the grandeur of many worldwide attractions, despite its initial view as a “commonplace” American river.

“The world and the books are so accustomed to use, and over-use, the word 'new' in connection with our country, that we early get and permanently retain the impression that there is nothing old about it.”

Twain conjectures that the reason America is never viewed as old or as having any noteworthy history is because the word “new” is always used to describe America, to the point of overuse.

“It always happens that when a man seizes upon a neglected and important idea, people inflamed with the same notion crop up all around. It happened so in this instance.”

Twain observes that once a person comes up with an idea that is seemingly original, many more will suddenly arise with the very same idea. In the case of the Mississippi, many people decided to explore it and see what riches it held.