--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: NOTICE Persons attempting to find a…" description: "\"“NOTICE Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons at..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/mark-twain-22_attempting_notice-persons-attempting-to-find-a-moti_1116275.png" --- # NOTICE Persons attempting to find a motive in this… ![“NOTICE Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR Per G.G.,Chief of Ordnance” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/mark-twain-22_attempting_notice-persons-attempting-to-find-a-moti_1116275.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/mark-twain-22_attempting_notice-persons-attempting-to-find-a-moti_1116275.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/093/mark-twain-22_attempting_notice-persons-attempting-to-find-a-moti_1116275.png) > ““NOTICE Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR Per G.G.,Chief of Ordnance”” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author mocks readers who over‑analyze, warning that seeking hidden motives, morals, or plots can be futile and dangerous. **In simple terms:** Over‑analysis is discouraged. Key Takeaway Accept the story at face value. Themes humor satire literary criticism Mood playful ironic Type satirical literary When to use this quote - reading literature - academic discussion - critical analysis Key Concepts metafiction authorial intent Questions to Reflect On - What does this say about the limits of interpretation? - When is it appropriate to look for deeper meaning? A Different Perspective Some narratives intentionally resist simple moralizing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attempting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempting/) [Attempting Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempting-motive-2686953/) [Chief Ordnance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chief-ordnance-2997897/) [Chiefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chiefs/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [Motive Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive-narrative-2686954/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Narrative Prosecuted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative-prosecuted-2686951/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Ordnance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordnance/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot/) [Prosecuted Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosecuted-persons-2686952/) [Shots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shots/) ## Related quotes > [“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons  attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/persons-attempting-to-find-a-motive-in-this-narrative-will-be-2/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/persons-attempting-to-find-a-motive-in-this-narrative-will-be/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There are still thousands of people dying every year in Laos, mostly children and farmers, from unexploded anti-personnel ordnance that the U.S. simply saturated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-still-thousands-of-people-dying-every-year-in-laos-mostly/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I'm an F-18, bro, and I will destroy you in the air and deploy my ordnance to the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/i-m-an-f-18-bro-and-i-will-destroy-you-in-the-air-and-deploy-my/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) > [I didn't know what I wanted to do when I was a child. I did want to be a cartographer but that was partly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-meades/i-didn-t-know-what-i-wanted-to-do-when-i-was-a-child-i-did-want-to-be/) [Jonathan Meades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-meades/) > [My father worked at the Naval Ordnance Lab, and they had a nine-hole course on the property. You paid a quarter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-black/my-father-worked-at-the-naval-ordnance-lab-and-they-had-a-nine-hole/) [Lewis Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-black/) > [Maxim 3: An ordnance technician at a dead run outranks everybody. -The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-tayler/maxim-3-an-ordnance-technician-at-a-dead-run-outranks-everybody-the/) [Howard Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-tayler/) > [He picked up the wrench and broke the guy’s wrist with it, one, and then the other wrist, two, and turned back and did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-child/he-picked-up-the-wrench-and-broke-the-guy-s-wrist-with-it-one-and/) [Lee Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-child/) > [Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain--which is to say, all of it. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/suddenly-in-the-space-of-a-moment-i-realized-what-it-was-that-i-loved/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [The combination of modern ordnance and outdated tactics had, as usual, created enormous casualties on both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/the-combination-of-modern-ordnance-and-outdated-tactics-had-as-usual/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [Wealth from trade was the mainspring of Western material advance; the visible agents of change were great guns. These came of age in Europe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-padfield/wealth-from-trade-was-the-mainspring-of-western-material-advance-the/) [Peter Padfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-padfield/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Attempting quotes > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [In terms of style, too, I think I've been working with a somewhat limited -- although intentionally limited -- set of tools. So I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/in-terms-of-style-too-i-think-i-ve-been-working-with-a-somewhat/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Ewan McGregor stars as Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, again doing a fine Alec Guinness impersonation but otherwise seeming lost and alone in the galaxy as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-zacharek/ewan-mcgregor-stars-as-jedi-obi-wan-kenobi-again-doing-a-fine-alec/) [Stephanie Zacharek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-zacharek/) > [Daphne," he said with controlled gentleness, "what is wrong?" She sat down opposite him and placed a hand on his cheek. "I'm so insensitive,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-quinn/daphne-he-said-with-controlled-gentleness-what-is-wrong-she-sat-down/) [Julia Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-quinn/) > [I'm a dreamer and continue to dream of what can and will be, "Expecting great things from God, Attempting great things for God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carey/i-m-a-dreamer-and-continue-to-dream-of-what-can-and-will-be-expecting/) [William Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carey/) > [I swear you’re a woman. (Devyn) I would respond to that, but I don’t want to distract you while you’re attempting to drive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-swear-you-re-a-woman-devyn-i-would-respond-to-that-but-i-don-t-want/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [I have told you of the Spaniard who always put on his spectacles when about to eat cherries, that they might look bigger and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/i-have-told-you-of-the-spaniard-who-always-put-on-his-spectacles-when/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The danger to which the success of revolutions is most exposed, is that of attempting them before the principles on which they proceed, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-danger-to-which-the-success-of-revolutions-is-most-exposed-is/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Politics resemble religion; attempting to divest either of ceremony is the most certain mode of bringing either into contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/politics-resemble-religion-attempting-to-divest-either-of-ceremony-is/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [“failure is not an outcome, but involves a lack of trying—not stretching yourself far enough out of your comfort zone and attempting to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-wiseman/failure-is-not-an-outcome-but-involves-a-lack-of-trying-not/) [Liz Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-wiseman/) > [It is strange to reflect how much energy is thrown away in attempting to know the unknowable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-barber-lightfoot/it-is-strange-to-reflect-how-much-energy-is-thrown-away-in-attempting/) [Joseph Barber Lightfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-barber-lightfoot/) > [I am not attempting to preserve culture, or record actual events or stories. Instead I bow my head in gratitude to those storytellers who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/i-am-not-attempting-to-preserve-culture-or-record-actual-events-or/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) [Browse all 513 Attempting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“NOTICE Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. 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