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

— Josh Billings, "Sollum Thoughts," in Everybody's Friend: Josh Billing's Encyclopedia & Proverbial Philosophy of Wit & Humor, 1874

About Josh Billings

1818 – 1885

Pen name of the American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw.

“There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.”

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

“Don't mistake vivacity for wit, thare iz about az mutch difference az thare iz between lightning and a lightning bug.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”