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A Prince picks up grandeur, power, and a permanent
holiday and gratis support by a pure accident, the accident of birth, and
he stands always before the grieved eye of poverty and obscurity a monumental
representative of luck. And then--supremest value of all--his is the only
high fortune on the earth which is secure. The commercial millionaire may
become a beggar; the illustrious statesman can make a vital mistake and
be dropped and forgotten; the illustrious general can lose a decisive battle
and with it the consideration of men; but once a Prince always a Prince--that
is to say, an imitation god, and neither hard fortune nor an infamous character
nor an addled brain nor the speech of an ass can undeify him. By common
consent of all the nations and all the ages the most valuable thing in this
world is the homage of men, whether deserved or undeserved. It follows without
doubt or question, then, that the most desirable position possible is that
of a Prince. And I think it also follows that the so-called usurpations
with which history is littered are the most excusable misdemeanors which
men have committed. To usurp a usurpation--that is all it amounts to, isn't
it? - "At the Shrine of St. Wagner" |
...these are princes which are cast in the chaste princely mould, & they
make me regret--again--that I am not a prince myself. It isn't a new regret,
but a very old one. I have never been properly & humbly satisfied with my
condition. I am a democrat only on principle, not by instinct--nobody is that.
Doubtless some people say they are, but this world is grievously given to lying.
- Mark Twains Notebook #42
Also see: Royalty
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