"Any editor to whom I submit my manuscripts has an undisputed right to delete anything to which he objects, but God Almighty Himself has no right to put words in my mouth that I never used." — Mark Twain, chastising the editors of St. Nicholas magazine, in a visit to their offices. The magazine was publishing excerpts from Twain's "Tom Sawyer Abroad" and had apparently made some changes that were not to his liking.
The anecdote comes from "Hardly a Man Is Now Alive: The Autobiography of Dan Beard" (1939). More about Beard in a future item...