Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Will Rogers Comedian

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Nov 4, 1879
  • Died: Aug 15, 1935

William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and motion picture actor. He was one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s.

Known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son," Rogers was born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory. He traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies, wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure. By the mid-1930s, the American people adored Rogers. He was the leading political wit of the Progressive Era, and was the top-paid Hollywood movie star at the time. Rogers died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post, when their small airplane crashed in Alaska.

Rogers' vaudeville rope act led to success in the Ziegfeld Follies, which in turn led to the first of his many movie contracts. His 1920s syndicated newspaper column and his radio appearances increased his visibility and popularity. Rogers crusaded for aviation expansion, and provided Americans with first-hand accounts of his world travels.

You can't say civilization don't advance... in every war they kill you in a new way. war

Do the best you can, and don't take life too serious. best & life

If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics. politics & truth

Ohio claims they are due a president as they haven't had one since Taft. Look at the United States, they have not had one since Lincoln. government

I have a scheme for stopping war. It's this - no nation is allowed to enter a war till they have paid for the last one. war

Politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated. money & politics

The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don't let it get the best of you. best

The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, 'How is the president?' best & morning

There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you. government

A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people. learning

We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not legalize it and then tax it out of business? business

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. art

It's easy being a humorist when you've got the whole government working for you. government

A remark generally hurts in proportion to its truth. truth

If you want to be successful, it's just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing. love

In Hollywood you can see things at night that are fast enough to be in the Olympics in the day time. time

Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. funny, government & thankful

We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can. good & life

The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them. time

Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product that they do on advertising and they wouldn't have to advertise it. money

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. experience & good

The best way out of a difficulty is through it. best

When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do well, that's Memoirs. good

It's not what you pay a man, but what he costs you that counts. business

If I studied all my life, I couldn't think up half the number of funny things passed in one session of congress. funny

This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer. government

So live that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. family

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. government & politics

An economist's guess is liable to be as good as anybody else's. business & good

Liberty doesn't work as well in practice as it does in speeches. work

Take the diplomacy out of war and the thing would fall flat in a week. war

Don't gamble take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it. finance & good

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. life & time

The time to save is now. When a dog gets a bone, he doesn't go out and make a down payment on a bigger bone. He buries the one he's got. time

There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education. education & movies

It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for. good & government

The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other. politics

America is becoming so educated that ignorance will be a novelty. I will belong to the select few. education

Things in our country run in spite of government, not by aid of it. government

If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep. government & money

The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets. death & time

Make crime pay. Become a lawyer. legal

There is no more independence in politics than there is in jail. politics

The movies are the only business where you can go out front and applaud yourself. business & movies

I'm not a real movie star. I've still got the same wife I started out with twenty-eight years ago. funny

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate? government

Everything is funny, as long as it's happening to somebody else. funny

I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they now do. funny

A fool and his money are soon elected. money & politics

Money and women are the most sought after and the least known about of any two things we have. money & women

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat. funny

People are getting smarter nowadays they are letting lawyers, instead of their conscience, be their guide. legal

If you can build a business up big enough, it's respectable. business

Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need. art & money

Politics is applesauce. politics

The United States never lost a war or won a conference. war

We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others. equality