Quotes from Josh Billings

The trouble ain't that people are ignorant: it's that they know so much that ain't so.

Human happiness konsists in having what yu want, and wanting what yu have.

As long as we are lucky we attribute it to our smartness; our bad luck we give the gods credit for.

Knowledge is like money: the more he gets, the more he craves.

It's not only the most difficult thing to know one's self, but the most inconvenient.

The truly innocent are those who not only are guiltless themselves, but who think others are.

Most men would rather be charged with malice than with making a blunder.

There are some people so addicted to exaggeration that they can't tell the truth without lying.

It is a very delicate job to forgive a man, without lowering him in his estimation, and yours too.

There are people who are always anticipating trouble, and in this way they manage to enjoy many sorrows that never really happen.

It is the little things that fret and worry us; you can dodge an elephant, but not a fly.

There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't.

Incredulity is the wisdom of the fool.

Wisdom deprives even poverty of half its power.

True wisdom is plenty of experience, observation, and reflection. False wisdom is plenty of ignorance, arrogance, and impudence.

Wisdom has never made a bigot, but learning has.

Experience increases our wisdom but doesn't reduce our follies.

Wisdom that don't make us happier ain't worth plowing for.

The trouble with most folks isn't their ignorance. It's knowin' so many things that ain't so.

Silence is one of the hardest kind of arguments to refute. There is no good substitute for wisdom; but silence is the best that has yet been discovered.

Marrying for love may be a bit risky, but it is so honest that God can't help but smile on it.

The more humble a man is before God the more he will be exalted; the more humble he is before man, the more he will get rode roughshod.

It ain't what a man don't know that makes him a fool, but what he does know that ain't so.

Wise men have but few confidants, and cunning ones none.