Josh Billings on Ice, and Other ThingsBillings, Josh
General
Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things
Billings, Josh
American wit and humor
Even boys hav tew be larnt how tew work, just az a dorg haz tew be
lernt how to churn butter, and i hav known dorgs, after they had got
well lernt, to hide under the barn churning days.
If laber iz a cuss, it strikes me that laziness must be a blessing.
Bees are alwus quoted az patterns ov industry, but bees don't lay up
enny hunny in those kuntrys whare the flowers bloom the year round.
But i am not in favour ov laziness, and don't recommend it, even if it
iz natral, enny more than i would recommend murder, bekauze the fust
man that waz born into the wurld saw fit tew kill the seckund one
naturally.
I hav alwus looked upon a lazy man az a kind ov natral pirate, who
lives upon the oats ov others, and don't think he haz enny more right
tew live and be lazy than a snake haz.
In conclusion, laziness iz like red hair, the only way tew cure it iz
to die.
I forgot to say that the lazyest man I ever knu lived a little
southeast ov Dunkirk; he waz too lazy to pay hiz honest dets, or even
wipe hiz noze, and so he let them both run.
THE PERFEKT MAN.
It is hard work tew be perfeckt, and yet thare is menny who reach
perfekshun with fust rate skill.
Thare seems to be 2 kinds ov worldly perfekshun; one kind is very mutch
like a squash; if it is good, it is good bekause it kant help it.
I alwus envy this kind, they don't hav enny intestine fights with
themselfs; they are like an eight day clock, don't want winding up but
onst a week.
Their morality is like the Eolian harp; even an east wind will play a
pleasant tune upon it.
The other kind ov perfektion belongs tew those folks who kno they are
perfekt, these kind ov perfectioners travel on their muscle, and
wouldn't be afrade tew fight the Devil for 200 dollars a side.
Whenever yu find a man who is natrally perfekt, yu will find one who
either never haz been temted or who haint got enny thing worth
tempting. And whenever you find a man who sez he is perfekt, yu find
one who want swatching az much az a buzz saw duz. Theze 2 kinds ov
moral perfectioners are the only ones i kno ov in this wurld; we kan
awl ov us imagine, and even hanker, for sumthing better than either ov
theze, but perfekshun is not earthy, it roosts near the skeys.
THE FAULT-FINDING MAN.
Good Lord deliver us! Good Lord deliver us now this minnit! from the
fault-finding man.
One ov yure wheezing cusses, i mean.
These kind ov humin critters are alwus full ov natral flesh; evry boddy
iz wrong but they grab thissells, whare other folks gather figs. If
they enjoy enny thing they do it under a kind ov protest, and if enny
body else enjoys enny thing, they are reddy tew bet 10 dollars, they
lie about it.
I pitty these poor fellers, more than i do a lost dorg.
Their happiness seems tew be alwus drawn from the top ov their misery.
Rather than not be able tew find enny fault, they wouldn't hezitate tew
say tew an angle-worm, that his tail was altogether too long for the
rest of his boddy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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