"A man is known by the silence he keeps." -- Oliver Herford
Oliver Herford (1863—1935) was a British born America writer, artist and illustrator who has been called "The American Oscar Wilde". As a frequent contributor to The Mentor, Life, and Ladies' Home Journal, he sometimes signed his artwork as "O Herford". In 1906 he wrote and illustrated the "Little Book of Bores". He also wrote short poems like "The Chimpanzee" and "The Hen", as well as writing and illustrating "The Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten" (1904) and "Excuse It Please" (1930). His sister Beatrice Herford was also a humorist.
Ethel Mumford and Addison Mizner wrote a small book The Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1903 as a Christmas present and added Herford's name as an author as a joke. The printer made up more copies to sell and to everyone's surprise it was an astounding success. When Herford found out about it he wanted 90% of the royalties. He was awarded an equal third.
"A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame and money, but even... without any hope of doing it well.""A rolling stone gathers no moss, but it gains a certain polish.""A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's: She changes it more often.""Age, like distance lends a double charm.""Cat: a pygmy lion who loves mice, hates dogs, and patronizes human beings.""Darling: the popular form of address used in speaking to a member of the opposite sex whose name you cannot at the moment remember.""Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure.""Many are called but few get up.""Modesty is the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.""Modesty: the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.""Only the young die good.""Tact is to lie about others as you would have them lie about you.""Tact: to lie about others as you would have them lie about you.""The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet.""There is always room at the top - after the investigation.""What is my loftiest ambition? I've always wanted to throw an egg at an electric fan.""When I go abroad I always sail from Boston because it is such a pleasant place to get away from."
With pictures by the author, published by Charles Scribner's Sons:
The Bashful Earthquake
A Child's Primer of Natural History; a revision and extension of this title by Margaret Fishback and Hilary Knight appeared as A Child's Book of Natural History (USA: Platt & Monk, 1969)
Overheard in a Garden
More Animals
The Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten
The Fairy Godmother-in-law
A Little Book of Bores
The Peter Pan Alphabet
The Astonishing Tale of a Pen-And-Ink Puppet
A Kitten’s Garden of Verses
With John Cecil Clay:
Cupid’s Cyclopedia
Cupid’s Fair-Weather Booke
With Addison Mizner and Ethel Mumford
The Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1903
The Limerick Up to Date Book (1903)
The Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1904 (1903)
The Entirely New Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1905 (1904)
The Complete Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1906 (1905)
The Altogether New Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1907 (1906)
The Quite New Cynic's Calendar of Revised Wisdom for 1908 (1907)