“I don't care how much a man talks, if he only says it in a few words.”

— Josh Billings, Affurisms, from Josh Billings: His Sayings, 1865

About Josh Billings

1818 – 1885

Pen name of the American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw.

“There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.”

“I honestly beleave it iz better tew know nothing than two know what ain't so.”

“Tew bring up a child in the wa he should go—travel that wa yourself.”

“Let whatever appears to be the best be to you an inviolable law.”

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

“All that glisters is not gold.”

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

“And one man in his time plays many parts.”

“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”