Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw), 1818 - 1885
Born: 21 April 1818, Lanesborough, Massachusetts
Died: 14 October 1885, Monterey, California
Born Henry Wheeler Shaw, he came from a very political family on both sides. Not only was his father a Congressman, but his uncle was a Congressman from New York, and his paternal grandfather had been a Congressman from Vermont a decade earlier. He attended Hamilton College at Clinton, New York but was expelled in his sophomore year for removing the clapper from the chapel bell. Shaw then worked as a farmer, coal miner, realtor, and auctioneer before taking up journalism at Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1858 he started writing aphorisms under the name Josh Billings, always in a casual tone and often with his own phonetic dialect and spelling. His "Essa on the Muel" (Essay on the Mule) became popular enough that he was hired to write and lecture at New York City. On the national speaking circuit he was a near rival to Mark Twain, and his death at Monterey, California became a chapter in Steinbeck's Cannery Row, although it's uncertain how accurate the portrayal is.
Biography from Wikipedia
Additional quotes from Wikiquote. Wikiquote entries are often "sourced" and may include items longer than those included here, particularly for poets, lyricists, and dramatists.
Josh Billings quotes:
Quotes found : 117 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 8) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
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- A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. permalink
Josh Billings - A learned fool is one who has read everything and remembered it. permalink
Josh Billings - A man's reputashun iz something like hiz coat, thare iz certain kemikals that will take the stains and grease spots out ov it, but it alwus haz a second-handed kind ov a look, and generally smells strong ov the kemikals. permalink
Josh Billings - Josh Billings: His Works, Complete (1873) - A secret ceases to be a secret if it is once confided — it is like a dollar bill, once broken, it is never a dollar again. permalink
Josh Billings - Affurisms. From Josh Billings (1865) - A slander is like a hornet; if you cannot kill it dead at the first blow, better not to strike at it. permalink
Josh Billings - About one haff the pitty in this world iz not the result ov sorrow, but satisfackshun that it aint our hoss that haz had hiz leg broke. permalink
Josh Billings - Josh Billings: His Works, Complete (1873) - About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment. permalink
Josh Billings - Adversity has the same effect on a man that severe training has on the pugilist: it reduces him to his fighting weight. permalink
Josh Billings - Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take. permalink
Josh Billings - Advice is like kissing; it costs nothing and is a pleasant thing to do. permalink
Josh Billings - Aristocrat: A demokrat with hiz pockets filled. permalink
Josh Billings - As a gineral thing, when a woman wares the britches, she has a good rite tew them. permalink
Josh Billings - Josh Billings: His Works, Complete (1873) - As in a game of cards, so in the game of life, we must play what is dealt to us, and the glory consists not so much in winning as in playing a poor hand well. permalink
Josh Billings - As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand. permalink
Josh Billings - Affurisms. From Josh Billings (1865) - Be like a postage stamp - stick to one thing until you get there. permalink
Josh Billings
Quotes found : 117 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 8) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
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