Mark Twain met Winston Churchill in 1900, when the latter was just coming into prominence as a young statesman. The occasion was a dinner in London. Churchill and Twain went out for a brief time to have a smoke.
Sir William Harcourt observed, as they departed, that whichever one got the floor first would keep it. He speculated that, inasmuch as Twain was an older and more experienced hand, Churchill's voice would get the first good rest that it had had in years.
When the two men returned, Harcourt asked Churchill whether he had enjoyed himself, and the young man replied most enthusiastically, "Yes." Turning to Twain, Harcourt put the same question. Twain hesitated and said, "I have had a good smoke."
一九零零年，馬克．吐溫和溫斯頓．邱吉爾出席倫敦一個晚宴，初次相逢。當時邱吉爾在政壇上開始嶄露頭角。兩人同時離席片刻，去外面抽煙。
威廉．哈考特爵士望着二人離去，說他們誰先搶得說話機會，對方一定無從置喙。他認為，既然吐溫年紀較大，經驗也較豐富，邱吉爾向來忙碌的聲帶，應可得到多年來第一次好好休息。
馬克、邱吉爾回來後，哈考特問邱吉爾剛才愉不愉快。那年輕人興高采烈說：「非常愉快。」哈考特轉頭向馬克問同一問題。馬克略一猶豫，回答說：「我好好的抽了一根煙。」