Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Letter to George Bainton, 15 October 1888, solicited for and printed in George Bainton, The Art of Authorship: Literary Reminiscences, Methods of Work, and Advice to Young Beginners (1890), pp. 87–88 http://books.google.com/books?id=XjBjzRN71_IC&pg=PA87. <br class="br">Twain repeated the lightning bug/lightning comparison in several contexts, and credited Josh Billings for the idea: <br class="br">Josh Billings defined the difference between humor and wit as that between the lightning bug and the lightning. <br class="br">Speech at the 145th annual dinner of St. Andrew's Society, New York, 30 November 1901, Mark Twain Speaking (1976), ed. Paul Fatout, p. 424 <br class="br">Billings' original wording was characteristically affected: <br class="br">Don't mistake vivacity for wit, thare iz about az mutch difference az thare iz between lightning and a lightning bug. <br class="br">Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax, "January 1871" http://books.google.com/books?id=sUI1AAAAMAAJ&pg=PT30. Also in Everybody's Friend, or; Josh Billing's Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor (1874), p. 304 http://books.google.com/books?id=7rA8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA304 <br class="br">Source: The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain