Quotes from book
The Virginian

The Virginian

The Virginian is a 1902 novel, by the American author Owen Wister , set in Wyoming. It describes the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch and is considered the first true fictional western ever written, aside from short stories and pulp dime novels, though modern scholars debate this. The Virginian paved the way for many more westerns by such authors as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and several others.


Owen Wister photo
Owen Wister photo

“When you call me that, smile!”

The Virginian (1902), pp. 29–30. Reported in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989), as presumably the forerunner of "Smile when you say that, partner".

Owen Wister photo

“When yu’ can’t have what you choose, yu’ just choose what you have.”

The Virginian (1902), chapter 13, p. 149.

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