[Ads-l] Quote Origin: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece . . .

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Back in April 2023 I posted to this list while attempting to gain
access to the book "Gonzo" which contains material from the journalist
Hunter S. Thompson. The goal was to determine whether the quotation in
the subject line was present. Ultimately, I obtained the book via
interlibrary loan and found that the target quotation was absent. I
also accessed "The Proud Highway" by Thompson and was unable to find
the quotation.

Now there is a Quote Investigator article about the quotation
https://quoteinvestigator.medium.com/6435a3cfd1b3
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/06/26/safe-journey/

The earliest match I have located appeared in a Usenet newsgroup in
1998. The Google database of Usenet messages is difficult to search.
So somebody might find an earlier match:

[ref] Usenet discussion message, Date: Oct 12, 1998, Newsgroup:
rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys, From: Jeff McRae, Subject: Your Ultimate
Driveway. (Google Groups Search; Accessed June 26, 2023) link [/ref]

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys/c/0x_yaABW7T8/m/aJVptI8IEeQJ

[Begin excerpt]
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid broadside,
thoroughly used up, worn out, shouting "GERONIMO".
[End excerpt]

A snapshot from velatropa24.com dated July 2007 in the Internet
Archive Wayback Machine credited the motorcycle racer Bill McKenna.
The quotation supposedly appeared in "Cycle" magazine in February
1982. I have not verified this claim, and I am skeptical. A
commentator on Reddit stated that the claim was untrue. No page number
was specified.

Garson O'Toole

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