”If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute
but one per cent. of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star-dust
lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. 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 extravagantly out
of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's
list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and
abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.
He has made a marvellous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done
it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused
for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet
with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek
and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples
have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and
they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. 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 parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of
his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other
forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
Mark Twain, "Considering the Jews" in Harper's Magazine (1899)
