14 June 1927

Jerome Klapka Jerome, author of the sparkling novella "Three Men in a Boat," has passed away. Twenty-nine-year-old Jerome wrote it upon returning from his honeymoon, which he spent with his wife, Etty, sailing on the River Thames. Published in 1889, the book immediately became a bestseller and remains in print. A dose of English humor—in memory of the author:

🔸In this case, I had all the signs of liver disease, including the main symptom: "apathy and an overwhelming aversion to any kind of work." It's impossible to describe how this affliction tormented me. I suffered from it from the cradle. From the time I started school, the illness almost never left me. My family didn't know then that I had liver disease. Now medicine has made great strides, but back then, everyone blamed it on laziness.

🔸I like my work. It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.

A clear conscience—or so I've been told by those who've experienced it—brings a feeling of satisfaction and happiness. But a full stomach allows you to achieve the same goal more easily and with less effort.

🔸I can't sit back and watch someone toil away. I immediately feel the urge to get up and start giving orders, and I walk around with my hands in my pockets, directing. I'm an active person by nature.

🔸Who needs weather forecasts? The fact that the weather is going bad is bad enough; why make your life even worse by finding out about it in advance?

🔸Usually, the wind on the river blows steadily against you, no matter which way you're sailing. It blows against you in the morning when you set off from the shore, and you row all day, buoyed by the anticipation of how pleasant it will be to return under sail. But by evening, its direction changes, and you have no choice but to row against the wind again all the way home. But if you forgot to bring a sail, then the wind will be favorable both ways. What can you do! Our world is a vale of sorrows, and man is created to suffer, just as the sun is created to shine.