"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.
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...
_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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