Opinion: World could use a dose of Will Rogers right now

I don’t know about you, but I think what our world needs right now is a heaping dose of Will Rogers.

When he and his pilot friend Wiley Post died in a crash in Alaska in 1935, headlines at the time called Will Rogers “the world’s most famous humorist.”

Rogers had published his first books in 1919, and in 1922 he began writing his syndicated newspaper articles.

Between those, his radio broadcasts, and his foray into Hollywood (he had credits in 54 films and short features), he was a household name for a good portion of our planet.

Will Rogers knew how to make people laugh, but with gentle homespun equal-opportunity humor. He used humor as a healing tool, not as a weapon.

“Will never said a mean thing,” his widow, Betty Rogers, wrote in his biography, “Will Rogers,” published in 1941. “He refused to gossip, would have nothing to do with such talk.

“When an absent person was being raked over the coals by a group,” Betty Rogers said, “Will invariably found something to say in his favor. Will wouldn’t pick on anyone who was down and he always resisted when others were doing so.”

Case made. We need Will Rogers right now.

Even though many of his quotes have officially passed the century mark, they remain as fresh and fitting today as when he first uttered them.

Rogers’ most famous words may be the ones carved on his gravestone in Claremore, Oklahoma: “I never met a man I didn’t like.”

But he had a corral full of other memorable lines. Here are a few of my favorites:

• “If you can start arguing over something, and get enough publicity, and keep the argument going, you can divide our nation overnight as to whether spinach or broccoli are the most nutritious.”

• “There ain’t no civilization where there ain’t no satisfaction and that’s what’s the trouble now. Nobody is satisfied.”

• “Last year we said, ‘Things can’t go on like this,’ and they didn’t. They got worse.”

• “You know horses are smarter than people. You never heard of a horse going broke betting on people.”

• “Everybody has a scheme to get the world right again. I can’t remember when it was ever right.”

Betty Rogers said her husband’s philosophy was based on helpfulness, honesty, and tolerance.

“Lending a helping hand or doing what he could to pick up the spirits of anyone feeling low was simply a natural reaction with Will,” she wrote.

Sounds like some good goals for us humans right now.

“What all of us know put together don’t mean anything,” Will Rogers wrote. “We are just here for a spell and pass on. So get a few laughs and do the best you can.”

Betty Williamson wishes she could have met Will Rogers. Reach her at:

[email protected]