This week I heard an awfully lot of arguing about politics, it seemed everywhere I went it was either on the tv or someone was talking about politics. As the week dragged on, it got me to thinking about Will Rogers. I have a book full of his quotes. It’s kind of interesting to me that the stuff he said over a hundred years ago stills rings true.

One quote in particular has kind of got me in trouble at times. Will Rogers said this, “If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence… try ordering somebody else’s dog around.”

I’ve said that to a few people over the years when I thought they were kind of being overbearing, almost always, I got a blank stare from them. Most of the time I’ve not told the person I said that to that I was quoting Will Rogers, I just left them to their own thoughts. Most can’t figure out if I’m being serious or not, it seems a little bit of Will’s humor confuses them. Oh well, I get a lot of amusement from watching an overbearing person being confused.

Will Rogers also was also an expert on women. He said, “There are two theories to arguing with women…. neither work.” I’m a half century old now, and I know he is correct on this one.

When it comes to aging I find his logic is once again very true. For several years I tried to hide I was in my late forties. Now that I’m fifty I feel like I have officially reached the “old geezer age.” Will hit the nail on the head when he said this, “Eventually you reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.” He also said, “The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting for.” I couldn’t agree more.

“A man that don’t love a horse, there is something the matter with him.” Will said that as well. He also said, “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.” I think he was referring to buying project horses. I’ve learned more from “project” horses than I ever have the really good ones I bought. The project horses have sent me to the emergency room on several occasions.

I’ll end with my favorite comeback anytime someone asks me for my opinion on politics. “All politics is applesauce.” I don’t like being dragged into a political discussion, I just don’t discuss it, ever.

James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.