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Thursday, April 21, 2016

Josh Billings: "As Scarce As Truth Is..."

Josh Billings, columnist and humorist 
21 Apr 1818-1885 
Wikipedia

Legacy and attributed quotations

Josh Billings' Wikiquote page.
His saying, "In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money can not buy... to wit the wag of a dog's tail" appears at the beginning of the Disney film Lady and the Tramp.[14]
The phrase, "Love is like measles... the later in life it occurs, the tougher it gets," was quoted as being Josh Billings' in Jan Karon's book, A Light in the Window.[15]
While the Squeaky Wheel analysis was used in different forms before Billings, his poem, "The Kicker" brought the idiom into common usage of American language. The term "kicker" at the time in the 1800s was another term for a complainer. The poem is:
I hate to be a kicker,
I always long for peace,
But the wheel that does the squeaking,
Is the one that gets the grease.
"Consider the postage stamp, son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there."
"Solitude is a good place to visit, but a poor place to stay."
"It is better to know less than to know so much that ain't so."[16]
Hong Kong movie Revenge: A Love Story ends with his quote "There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness."


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