old new saying

[Jonathan Lighter]

Worth recording before it's attributed to Mark Twain:

1865 (Feb. 2) George Esten Cooke, "Diary" in _The Journal of Southern
History_ VII (Nov., 1941) 540: Don't be flustered. Don't hate or envy.... Be
kind.... [D]on't bite anybody but rascals on occasion, but then use all the
teeth.

Cooke was a popular novelist  In 1865 he was serving on the staff of Gen.
Jeb Stuart, whom he described as "a jolly cove!"

JL


--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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