Source, in full
The manuscript from which this was taken was written and edited from 1902 to 1908. See: Mark Twain Project, Ed., No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger: Being an Ancient Tale Found in a Jug and Freely Translated from the Jug (University of California Press, 1982), p. 26.
Notes from Wikiquote
Often reported as | Everybody's private motto: It's better to be popular than right.