Pulitzer was a man of strong and, at
times, violent emotions, and, from his deplorable nervous state,
excessively irritable, I do not think that in the eight months I was
with him, during the greater part of which time he was not under any
restraining influence, such as might be exerted by the presence of
ladies, I heard him use any oath except occasionally a "damn," which
appealed to him, I think, as a suitable if not a necessary qualification
of the word "fool." For Mr. Pulitzer there were no fools except damned
fools.
After the excitement about Caesar and Cleopatra had subsided, Mr.
Pulitzer asked me if I had a good memory. I hesitated before replying,
because I had seen enough of Mr. Pulitzer in an hour to realize that a
constant exercise of caution would be necessary if I wished to avoid
offending his prejudices or wounding his susceptibilities; and whereas
on the one hand I did not wish to set a standard for myself which I
would find it impossible to live up to, on the other hand I was anxious
to avoid giving any description of my abilities which would be followed
later by a polite intimation from the major-domo that Mr. Pulitzer had
enjoyed my visit immensely but that I was not just the man for the
place.
So I compromised and said that I had a fairly good memory.
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