“If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.”

1954, in an interview with Hedda Hopper regarding his marriage to Esperanza "Chata" Baur.
Quoted in An A-Z of Hellraisers: A Comprehensive Compendium of Outrageous Insobriety (2010) by Robert Sellers http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=%22We+had+a+pretty+good+time+together%2C+when+she+wasn't+trying+to+kill+me!%22&rlz=1W1SKPT_en&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=2359l9344l0l9672l4l4l0l0l0l0l531l1141l0.2.1.5-1l4l0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbm=bks&source=og&sa=N&tab=wp&ei=GukKT_nkCMXf8gO2yqTMAQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=6f77fa42573fca86&biw=1024&bih=632

The Savage Nation, The Savage Nation (1995- ), 2011(?) (Audio: Michael Savage – Suicide Is Never An Option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oIjOjPW2OM&feature=youtu.be&t=1m29s)
2011
Context: Just remember, it's not heroic to kill yourself, and it's a violation of God's Laws.... The way it was explained to me in my tradition is... you are not your own property. You are God's property.... You have no right to commit suicide, don't even think– it's not an option. See, like in America, everything is "choice". "It's your choice." It's NOT your choice. You have no choice, so don't even think about it. It's not your choice to make. Soon enough, God will come for you, okay? Leave it at that. And every time you have a suicidal ideation, just push it away, it's not you. It's the devil trying to put something inside your head. We live in such a sick society, that the demented people who run the mind games on our heads like you to believe that it's your choice whether to commit suicide or not. It's NOT your choice. It's immoral, and that's the end of it. You don't have to ponder everything like it's a choice. You have children, that's all you need to know. What would the world be like for them if you committed suicide, do you have any idea? What you've gotta do is just get back on the road and keep walking, and don't stare at the chasm. That's all. You stand on the edge of a road, look down at the chasm and you'll get dizzy and fall in. So stop staring at the chasm. Get back on the road, and go back down to the meadow, and be with your family. And go on continue the struggle. That's all there is to it. That's your job. Your job is to struggle until you drop dead. That's it. Stop trying to be happy. The day you stop trying to be happy you might have a chance to live.

Source: Ethan Frome and Other Short Fiction

Source: A Woman's Thoughts About Women (1858), Ch. 10

Act IV, sc. iii.
The Rivals (1775)

In press conference announcing retirement from Test cricket, quoted in " After 16 yrs, Rahul Wall Dravid retires from intl cricket" in Indian Express (Indianexpress.com) http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-16-yrs-rahul-wall-dravid-retires-from-intl-cricket/921750/0

Cited in: " Joke, Anecdotes, etc http://www.moshe-online.com/worms/jokes/jokes.html" by Moshe Sniedovich, 2013
Principles of Operations Research (1975)

Good Omens: How Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote a book (2014)

Source: The Sword of Summer