This viral quote appears to be a rephrasing of a line written by Clarence Darrow, a lawyer who is perhaps best known for his involvement in the “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925 in which he defended an educator for teaching evolution in a public school, in his biography “The Story of My Life.”
Darrow wrote: “All men have an emotion to kill; when they strongly dislike some one they involuntarily wish he was dead. I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction.”
“I have never wished a man to die, but I have often read the obituaries with glee.”
(Poorly quoted, don’t remember the attribution)
I thought it was Twain but the interwebs says no
Yeah - I’d heard that too but everything is attributed to him and most of it is false… Darrow though - I wouldn’t have guessed that!