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Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together!
Mark Twain
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Benaras (Varanasi) is extremely ancient, representing a place that predates written history and even myth.

Mark Twain's quote reflects on the profound antiquity of Benaras, also known as Varanasi, suggesting that it exists beyond documented history and tradition. The statement emphasizes the city's deep cultural roots and the weight of its significance, indicating that it is not only old but embodies layers of time that surpass what has been recorded or mythologized.

Themes

BenarasHistoryTraditionAncientTimeless

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech on cultural heritage, you could reference Twain's quote to highlight the significance of ancient cities.

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Quote by Mark Twain | QuoteProject