Josh Billings vs. William Hazlitt
Side-by-side comparison of two thinkers
Josh Billings
1818 – 1885
Henry Wheeler Shaw, better known by the pen name Josh Billings, was a 19th-century American humorist and lecturer.
"The grate desire ov mi life iz tew amuze sumboddy. I had rather be able to set the multiplikashun table tew sum lively tune than tew hav bin the author ov it."
William Hazlitt
1778 – 1830
William Hazlitt was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He is also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age.
"We all wear some disguise — make some professions — use some artifice to set ourselves off as being better than we are; and yet it is not denied that we have so…"
Connections
Both wrote about: