“It takes a long time to find out how wrong you are sometimes.” – Will Rogers, 8 August 1933 I’m not sure why what Will declares here is true but I think it has something to do with our stubbornness. Once we get locked into a particular idea it is just so hard to admit that we might have been wrong to start with.  I know  it took the radical stands of Ronald Reagan for me to finally admit that I belonged to the wrong political party if I belonged to any party at all. ;) I know everyone … Continue reading It Takes A Long Time…

Betrayed by friendship is not a bad memorial to leave. – 16 June 1931   Will Rogers Will, I had to think about this one to understand what you were talking about. I think it means that is it better to have friends even if some end up betraying you than it is to have no friends at all.  That’s kind of deep but knowing you as I do I suspect that is your point. It kind of like the one about “its better to have love and lost than not to have loved at all”. Yeah, some friendships can result … Continue reading Betrayed by Friendship….

Somebody is always telling us in the papers how to prevent war. There is only one way in the World to prevent war, and that is, FOR EVERY NATION TO TEND TO ITS OWN BUSINESS. – June 28, 1925  Will Rogers Will I know you are right about this but it seems that eighty years later our country still can’t seem to understand your words of wisdom. We still want to get into every nation’s business as if it were our own.  There are those in the Senate, particularly Mr. McCain and that bunch, who have not seen a war … Continue reading Tend To Our Own Business….

There is an awful lot of difference between reading something and actually seeing it, for you can never tell, till you see it, just how big a liar History is. —  1926 Will Rogers I doubt if there is a thing in the world as wrong and unreliable as History. History ain’t what it is; it’s what some writer wanted it to be, and I just happened to thing I bet ours is as crooked as the rest. I bet we have started just as much devilment as was ever started against us — maybe more.  —  March 12,1932   … Continue reading About History…

Americans have one particular trait that they need never have any fear of some other nation copying, that is, we are the only people that will go where we know we are absolutely not wanted.   — Will Rogers January 8, 1927 — And you thought this was a recent thing didn’t you.  But once again Will shows us that we have been butting our noses in where we are not welcomed for at least eighty years now and I suspect much longer than that. This trait is very strange to me; about the same as our fascination with guns. … Continue reading Where We Are Not Wanted….

The more ignorant you are the quicker you fight. 12 August 1929   Will Rogers I must admit that I am a wimp when it comes to fighting. The last time I had a physical fight was when I was about seven years old. I punched my best friend Johnny Gallagher in the nose. I don’t really remember the circumstance behind the fight but I think I was goaded into it by some other kids. That seems to be the way many fights are started. I was devastated that I had actually hurt my buddy. I vowed then and there to … Continue reading Ignorance and Fighting….

I don’t care who you are, you just can’t reach middle life without having done and said a whole lot of foolish things. 29 December 1934   Will Rogers I have to admit that I have done some pretty foolish things in life, especially in my high school years. Things that I am not particularly proud of but I own up to them. Don’t get me wrong, nothing I did left any permanent harm on others and only a little to myself but some of them were a little bit unlawful. :) I used to readily admit that I drank much more before I was … Continue reading The Foolish Things We Do….

We got one thing to be thankful for anyhow. The country is not in as bad shape as the rumors have it. 3 September 1931  Will Rogers One of the things I have always liked about Will is that he seemed to be an eternal optimist. This quote was about three years into the Great Depression and he was still an optimist. But it does go to the heart of another of my favorite quotes and that is things are never as good as you had hoped or as bad as you had imagined. There are so many rumors around about what will … Continue reading Not As Bad Shape….