A version of that joke has been attributed to Mark Twain, though this source[0] says it was more probably M.J. Yilz, in this[1] 1971 letter to the Economist.

[0]: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/twain.htm

[1]: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/05/iorz-feixfuli-m-j-yilz....