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Quiz about Quotes From Will Rogers
Quiz about Quotes From Will Rogers

Quotes From Will Rogers Trivia Quiz


Will Rogers worked his whole life as a rancher, a "poet lariat", a stand-up comedian, a journalist, a multi-book author, a film and radio star, but mostly he's remembered as a humorist--someone who brought laughter to everyone.

A multiple-choice quiz by mlcmlc. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
mlcmlc
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
361,100
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
740
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. In a Daily Telegram dated March 16, 1932, Will Rogers shared the following thought. Can you identify the missing word?

"People's minds are changed through observation and not through _____."
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. One of Will Rogers' first presidential jokes was aimed at Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt in 1911 (about three years after he left office). From the choices below, can you determine the rest of the quote?

"Well, Teddy was a pretty good fellow, when he had it. I wonder what's become of him? You know, they do say that sometimes they come back." (pause for laughter) _____."
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Will Rogers was hired by Florenz Ziegfeld to appear in "Midnight Frolic", but would later perform his act at the main show, the "Ziegfeld Follies". Can you complete the quote that was to become part of his regular act?

"Well, what shall I talk about? I ain't got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the _____."
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The New York Friars Club began a tour including Baltimore, Maryland, in 1916. President Woodrow Wilson and new wife, Edith, made the drive to see the show. Aimed at the President, Will Rogers included the following joke. Can you complete the quote?

"I see where they have _____ [Pancho] Villa. Yes, they got him in the morning editions and then the afternoon ones let him get away."
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Will Rogers started acting in silent films in 1918. But in 1922 he would star in "The Ropin' Fool". Do you know the missing word from this quote on the film industry?

"The movies are the only business where you can go out front and _____ yourself."
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In 1922 Will Rogers began writing a weekly column for the McNaught newspaper syndicate. He would continue these until his death in 1935. Can you finish this quote from the first weekly article?

"Why don't somebody lend Germany the money so they can pay France what France owes England, so England can pay us the money to lend Germany to pay France? It only needs _____ to start it."
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Will Rogers is credited with another first, impersonating a President on radio. Can you complete the quote that impersonated President Coolidge?

"Everybody I come into contact with is doing well. They have to be doing well or _____."
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The May 31, 1928, issue of "Life" magazine announced that Will Rogers, head of the Anti-Bunk Party, accepted the nomination to run for President. His only campaign promise was that if elected, he would resign. Can you fill in the blank from his statement when Hoover won?

"We went into this campaign to drive the Bunk out of politics. But our _____, while noble in motive, was a failure."
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. President Hoover and Will Rogers appeared on a nationwide broadcast to promote the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief (POUR) on October 18, 1931. Do you know which of the options will complete the quote?

"So here we are in a country with more wheat and more corn and more money in the bank, more cotton, more everything in the world ... and yet we've got people starving. We'll hold the distinction of being the only nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poor house in an _____"
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Probably Will Rogers' most famous quote came about when he was unable to meet Leon Trotsky during a visit to Moscow. Can you complete the quote that was published in the "Saturday Evening Post" on November 6, 1926?

"I bet you if I had met him and had a chat with him, I would have found him a very interesting and human fellow, for I never yet met a man that I didn't _____."
Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In a Daily Telegram dated March 16, 1932, Will Rogers shared the following thought. Can you identify the missing word? "People's minds are changed through observation and not through _____."

Answer: argument

William Penn Adair Rogers was born in 1879, the last of eight children, on a ranch in the Cherokee Nation, in an area that would later become Oklahoma. He learned the roping skills while working the ranch, and dropped out of school after the tenth grade and began driving cattle. He was always proud and never shy about his Cherokee heritage.

It was in 1902 that he left to work in Argentina, but had no success there. He got a job tending livestock on a ship to South Africa. There he visited Texas Jack's Wild West Show and was hired at twenty dollars a week as the "Cherokee Kid". His grand finale was the "Crinoline", a feat where the size of a lasso increases to encompass the performer, his horse and lastly, the audience--some of the reports say that he was able to form a lasso of 100 feet in circumference.
2. One of Will Rogers' first presidential jokes was aimed at Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt in 1911 (about three years after he left office). From the choices below, can you determine the rest of the quote? "Well, Teddy was a pretty good fellow, when he had it. I wonder what's become of him? You know, they do say that sometimes they come back." (pause for laughter) _____."

Answer: But not often

Will had wanted to be one of TR's "Rough Riders" but was too young when he tried to volunteer in 1898. He met Teddy Roosevelt in 1900 during a roping contest and Rough Riders' reunion in Oklahoma City.

After working with the Texas Jack's Wild West show, Will had left with a letter or recommendation for the Wirth Brothers Circus in Australia. He toured with the circus until returning to the U.S. in 1904.

Upon his return, he began working vaudeville shows, with his horse "Teddy" (several sources say it was named for Teddy Roosevelt). His original act had no spoken words, but sometime after he began working his show in New York, he began adding commentary and earning laughter. By the time the quote above was added to his show, he was no longer working with his horse partner, "Teddy".
3. Will Rogers was hired by Florenz Ziegfeld to appear in "Midnight Frolic", but would later perform his act at the main show, the "Ziegfeld Follies". Can you complete the quote that was to become part of his regular act? "Well, what shall I talk about? I ain't got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the _____."

Answer: papers

Will Rogers performed in the Ziegfeld shows from 1915 to 1922. Will's show started as a "dumb" show, with no talking. He then started adding commentary about his rope tricks. It was still later when he began making commentary about the folk in the audience and current events. It was his wife, Betty, who suggested that he talk about what he read in the daily papers. Thus his act transitioned from rope stunts to humor.

The "Midnight Frolic" was a show on the roof of the New Amsterdam Theatre that started after the "Ziegfeld Follies" were finished.
4. The New York Friars Club began a tour including Baltimore, Maryland, in 1916. President Woodrow Wilson and new wife, Edith, made the drive to see the show. Aimed at the President, Will Rogers included the following joke. Can you complete the quote? "I see where they have _____ [Pancho] Villa. Yes, they got him in the morning editions and then the afternoon ones let him get away."

Answer: captured

In the news, Pancho Villa had been responsible for the execution of sixteen US citizens and raided Columbus, New Mexico. In response, President Wilson sent Brigadier General John "Black Jack" Pershing and several thousand troops to capture him.

The performers knew that President Wilson would be coming to the show, and Will, though he had an extraordinary case of stage fright, created new material for this performance, much of which would not be used again. When Will told the joke, the audience looked first to see how the President reacted. When the audience saw the President laughing, they joined in.

President Wilson went backstage and thanked the troupe with "Gentlemen, you have complimented me by helping me put aside my cares". The Abbot of the Friars (head of the organization), George M. Cohan, thanked the President for coming to the show. According to a "New York Times" article from May 31, 1916, the President responded with "I'd travel ten times that distance to listen to a man as wise as Will Rogers."
5. Will Rogers started acting in silent films in 1918. But in 1922 he would star in "The Ropin' Fool". Do you know the missing word from this quote on the film industry? "The movies are the only business where you can go out front and _____ yourself."

Answer: applaud

This marvelous twenty-two minute film was really a vehicle for Will to show off his roping skill, and used the slow-motion technology to show how some of the tricks were done. Will also wrote the title cards for the film.

The "Guinness Book of World Records" added a record for Will and a feat using three lassos, one for the rider, one for the horse's neck, and one for the horse's legs. That feat was duplicated in the film.

Will ultimately starred in 71 films, 50 silent films, and 21 talking pictures.
6. In 1922 Will Rogers began writing a weekly column for the McNaught newspaper syndicate. He would continue these until his death in 1935. Can you finish this quote from the first weekly article? "Why don't somebody lend Germany the money so they can pay France what France owes England, so England can pay us the money to lend Germany to pay France? It only needs _____ to start it."

Answer: somebody

This first article appeared on December 24, 1922. Eventually, the column was distributed to approximately 600 daily and weekly papers. Will's writing style matched his speaking style and as he said "That's the way I write it, and that's the way I want it to lay." Most editors agreed, though some couldn't resist tweaking here and there.

Households all over the country anticipated his columns, and several sites report that folk would read his column first and then read the rest of the paper. His humor brought news items to the public in a distilled, down-home manner. When he didn't write about the news, he would fill in with an article about his current activities.

In 1926 the "New York Times" began publishing his daily telegrams titled "Will Rogers Says", of 150 words or less from wherever he happened to be.
7. Will Rogers is credited with another first, impersonating a President on radio. Can you complete the quote that impersonated President Coolidge? "Everybody I come into contact with is doing well. They have to be doing well or _____."

Answer: they don't come in contact with me

This created quite a hullabaloo. Will, who was never as comfortable at a microphone without audience feedback, never thought that anyone would actually believe the President would say such a thing. Will had not said that he was impersonating President Coolidge, his entry to the mimicry was "I want to introduce a friend of mine who is here and wishes to speak to you".

The remainder of the gag was "I am proud to report that the country as a whole is prosperous. I don't mean by that that the whole country is prosperous, but, as a whole it is prosperous. That is, it is prosperous for a whole. A hole is not supposed to be prosperous, and we are certainly in a hole. There is not a whole lot of doubt about that." The final sentence was the quote in the question above.

Apparently many thought that President Coolidge was really there and had actually spoken. Will was asked to clear up the situation on air and in print. In fact, he sent a letter to President Coolidge apologizing. President Coolidge responded that he "found the matter of rather small consequence".
8. The May 31, 1928, issue of "Life" magazine announced that Will Rogers, head of the Anti-Bunk Party, accepted the nomination to run for President. His only campaign promise was that if elected, he would resign. Can you fill in the blank from his statement when Hoover won? "We went into this campaign to drive the Bunk out of politics. But our _____, while noble in motive, was a failure."

Answer: experiment

The idea came from magazine editor Robert E. Sherwood. Because Coolidge had declined running with "I do not choose to run", Will's slogan was "He chews to run", a reference also to his gum chewing habit.

On election day "Life" sent a telegram to Will stating that "you were elected President by the Great Silent Vote of this nation."
9. President Hoover and Will Rogers appeared on a nationwide broadcast to promote the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief (POUR) on October 18, 1931. Do you know which of the options will complete the quote? "So here we are in a country with more wheat and more corn and more money in the bank, more cotton, more everything in the world ... and yet we've got people starving. We'll hold the distinction of being the only nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poor house in an _____"

Answer: automobile

Hoover, recognizing Will's popularity, was hoping for a positive outcome by appearing with him. This broadcast has since been labeled "Bacon and Beans and Limousines". This was a time when people were waiting in line for food, and Hoover lost the next election because people felt he was unable to help.

Will also toured cross country several during the depression to try to raise money for the Red Cross and other relief efforts.
10. Probably Will Rogers' most famous quote came about when he was unable to meet Leon Trotsky during a visit to Moscow. Can you complete the quote that was published in the "Saturday Evening Post" on November 6, 1926? "I bet you if I had met him and had a chat with him, I would have found him a very interesting and human fellow, for I never yet met a man that I didn't _____."

Answer: like

Will repeated the statement many times. During a 1930 speech he said, "When I die, my epitaph or whatever you call those signs on gravestones is going to read: 'I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident like.' [sic] I am so proud of that that i can hardly wait to die so it can be carved."

Will died on August 5, 1935, at the age of 55. He was an avid aviation passenger and was flying with Wiley Post who was trying to find a way to fly from Alaska to Russia. His typewriter was found next to him on the crashed plane. He was mourned by an entire country as extra newspaper editions were printed, and radio stations went silent for the day.
Source: Author mlcmlc

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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