Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:39:06 +0000

It iz one ov the hardest things on earth for a man to learn, — that he plays a third rate game ov whist.

[It is one of the hardest things on earth for a man to learn — that he plays a third-rate game of whist.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.)
(Source)

Whist was a very popular trick-taking card game in the 18th-19th Centuries.

WIST Quotations

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.)