Will Rogers was America's greatest humorist.
He appeared on stage, beginning in a South African wild west show and then getting a regular show with his horse on a roof in New York City in 1905. He was a star in the Ziegfield Follies for a decade. He did rope tricks and a monologue on the day's events. He then went to Hollywood and was a movie star: 50 silents and 21 talkies. He wrote a newspaper column syndicated by The New York Times, beginning in 1922. It went daily in 1926. He wrote 4,000 columns. He died in a plane crash in 1935.
I have several books of his observations. They are a delight to read.
He was not mean. He was kind. And he understood politics.
Samples:
1. I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.2. There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.
3. Every time we see a bridegroom we wonder why she ever picked him, and it’s the same with public officials.
4. The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.
5. Our public men are speaking every day on something, but they ain’t saying anything.
6. If all politicians fished instead of speaking publicly, we would be at peace with the world.
7. If you ever injected truth into politics you would have no politics.
8. A fool and his money are soon elected.
9. If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us...there wouldn’t be any inducement to go to heaven.
10. The more you read and observe about this politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other.
11. I love a dog. He does nothing for political reasons.
12. Those who complain about the high cost of government should be glad we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.
13. This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when a baby gets hold of a hammer.
14. With Congress, every time they make a joke it’s a law, and every time they make a law it’s a joke.
15. If I studied all my life, I couldn’t think up half the number of funny things passed in one session of Congress.
16. Never blame a legislative body for not doing something. When they do nothing, that don’t hurt anybody. When they do something is when they become dangerous.
17. I don’t want to complain, but every time they build a tax structure, the first thing they nail is me.
18. If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don’t get wet you can keep.
19. The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.
20. The taxpayers are sending congressmen on expensive trips abroad. It might be worth it, except they keep coming back.
21. About all I can say for the United States Senate is that it opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation.
22. On account of us being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.
23. I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him “father.”
This collection was published in The Freeman, the magazine where I got my start in 1967.
He was also the greatest lasso artist I ever saw. Here are highlights from The Ropin' Fool. The silent film is narrated by his son, Will Rogers, Jr.
© 2022 GaryNorth.com, Inc., 2005-2021 All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.