I was challenged to identify this quote earlier today and failed with my first guess. It sounded like something George Carlin might have said. Nope. I was told it was an older quote from a cowboy comedian. Huh, what cowboy comedians were there? I mulled for a moment before saying it was the guy who never met a man he didn't like. Darn, what's his name? You know, the one who died in the plane crash with Wiley Post. The examiner said no. Okay, I give up, who was it? Will Rogers.
"I never met a man I didn't like" Will Rogers
Will Rogers died in a plane crash in Point Barrow, Alaska. Wiley Post was the pilot.
Everyone laughed, both because I couldn't remember the name and that the questioner was unaware of these tidbits about Will Rogers.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) was a more good-natured version of HL Menken (1880-1956). I've enjoyed reading about each. Here are a few samples of their rival wits.
"I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat."
"Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago."
“There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.”
"There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by readin’. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”
“If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of Congress?”
"A fool and his money are soon elected.”
Rogers is light-hearted and funny, but his commentary has bite. There is joy and wisdom in what he has to say. It is hard not to like Will Rogers and that is likely why he liked everyone he met.
“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable...”
“On one issue, at least, men and women agree: they both distrust women.”
“A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.”
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”
“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses. It is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Menken had a much darker view. A fan of Nietzsche, he ladled the criticism on every aspect of life in his time. Where Will Rogers offers good-natured ribbing, Menken is hostile and cynical. Still, he makes some good points and some of his quotes have appeared regularly in recent years. Though Rogers is more warmly remembered, I have seen Menken more frequently quoted.
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