"Never say 'die' -- say 'damn'" (1922 poem)

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Thu Aug 16 01:23:18 UTC 2007


Anyone know about this American quotation? NewspaperArchive is giving me  
troubles again.
...
...
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/never_say_die_say_damn_pa_fer
guson/_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/never_say_die_say_damn_pa_ferguson/) 
...
 
Entry from August 15, 2007 
“Never say ‘die,’ say ‘damn‘“ ("Pa” Ferguson?)
 
"Never say ‘die,’ say ‘damn’” was supposedly the motto of James Edward “Pa”
  Ferguson (1871-1944), the only Texas governor ever to be impeached. 
However, the  saying was printed in 1922 newspapers in a poem form, written by an 
anonymous  author. It is doubtful if Ferguson originated the saying. 


_Wikipedia: James E.  Ferguson_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._Ferguson)  
James Edward “Pa” Ferguson (August 31, 1871 - September  21, 1944) was a 
controversial United States politician from the state of Texas.  
(...) 
Governor of Texas 
In 1914, Ferguson was elected  Governor of Texas running as an 
anti-prohibitionist Democrat. He served in this  position from January 19, 1915 to August 
25, 1917. 

After being  re-elected in 1916, Ferguson vetoed the appropriations for the 
University of  Texas due to its refusal to remove members of their faculty 
which he found to be  objectionable. This move spurred the drive to impeach 
Ferguson. Ferguson was  indicted on nine charges in July 1917. The Texas House of 
Representatives  prepared 21 charges against Ferguson and the Senate convicted 
him on 10 of those  charges. The Senate removed him from the office of Governor 
and declared him  ineligible to hold office in the state of Texas. Despite 
this ruling, Ferguson  ran for Governor in 1918 but he was defeated by William 
P. Hobby. 
(...)  
Later career 
He failed at his bid for the United States Senate in  1922, making it to the 
runoff election but losing to Earle B. Mayfield. Ferguson  ran the campaigns 
of his wife Miriam A. Ferguson, who was elected to two terms  as Governor of 
Texas (January 20, 1925 - January 17, 1927 and January 17, 1933 -  January 15, 
1935). 

_Google  Books_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=2cygHveR6NAC&q="never+say+die"+"say+damn"&dq="never+say+die"+"say+damn"&ei=Fp7DRvvvN4bs7gLp6P3cBQ&ie=ISO-8
859-1&pgis=1)  
The Mother Book 
by Liz Smith 
Garden City, NY:  Doubleday 
1978 
Pg. 454: 
Defeated for re-election in 1926, “Ma” (who  secretly detested this 
nickname) lived up to the family motto of “Never say  ‘die’—say ‘damn’” by running 
again in 1932 and serving a second two-year  term.  

_Google  Books_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=f50qBgWgp-kC&pg=PA138&ots=Lj519d80l8&dq="never+say+die"+"say+damn"&ei=Fp7DRvvvN4bs7gLp6P3cBQ&ie=ISO-8859-1
&sig=vP59LlZJd9NdzaI7kGJl-UWB8lc)  
Texas: A Modern History 
by David G. McComb 
Austin,  TX: University of Texas Press 
1989 
Pg. 138: 
Jim Ferguson’s motto was  “Never say ‘die,’ say ‘damn.’” 

Passionate Nation: The Epic History of  Texas 
by James L. Haley 
New York: Free Press 
2006 
Pg. 482:  
His own come back was thwarted when he lost the Senate primary to Mayfield,  
but Ferguson’s motto was, “Never say die, say damn!” 

15 August 1922,  Duluth (MN) News Tribune, pg. 6, col. 5: 
Never say “die”—say “damn.” 
it  isn’t classic 
It may be profane. 
But we mortals have need of it, time  and again; 
And you’ll find you’ll recover from fate’s hardest slam, 
you  never say “die”—say “damn.” 




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