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...all men--kings & serfs alike--are slaves to other men & to circumstance--save alone, the pilot--who comes at no man's beck and call, obeys no man's orders & scorns all men's suggestions.... It is a strange study,--a singular phenomenon, if you please, that the only real, independent & genuine gentlemen in the world go quietly up and down the Mississippi river, asking no homage of anyone, seeking no popularity, no notoriety, & not caring a damn whether school keeps or not.

-Mark Twain, 1866