Quote #0
“What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector?” “The taxidermist takes only your skin.”.
Mark Twain
About This Quote
The line is presented as a humorous comparison between two professions: a taxidermist, who removes and preserves an animal’s skin, and a tax collector, who is joked to take more than that from a person. The article indicates it was recorded among Twain’s notebook-style jottings (dated around 1902) and later published posthumously in collections of his sayings.
Interpretation
It’s a cynical joke about taxation: paying taxes is portrayed as so extracting and painful that, compared to it, having only one’s skin taken would be the lesser harm. The humor relies on wordplay and exaggeration to express resentment toward taxes.
Extended Quotation
What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.
Variations
The only difference between a tax collector and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist only takes your hide.
What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes your hide only.
Misattributions
- Merle Johnson
- Albert Bigelow Paine
