
“I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
Variant: I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
The Second World War, Volume II : Their Finest Hour (1949) Chapter 8 (September Tensions).
Post-war years (1945–1955)
“I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
Variant: I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
Corey's Coming
Song lyrics, On the Road to Kingdom Come (1976)
“I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused.”
Source: The Quiet American
Part 1, 00:13:32
The Root of All Evil? (January 2006)
"The Pit of the Serpent" (1929)
Context: The men on the Dauntless have disliked the Sea Girl's crew ever since our skipper took their captain to a cleaning on the wharfs of Zanzibar--them being narrow-minded that way. They claimed that the old man had a knuckle-duster on his right, which is ridiculous and a dirty lie. He had it on his left.
Pierre Fauchery, as quoted by the character "Jules Labarthe"
The Age for Love
Source: Space Chantey (1968), Ch. 5, on Polyphemia
Context: Roadstrum had always believed that he had troubles enough of his own. He seldom borrowed trouble, and never on usurious terms. He knew that it was a solid thing that sheep do not gather in taverns and drink beer, not even potato beer; that they do not sing, not even badly; that they do not tell stories. But a stranger can easily make trouble for himself on a strange world by challenging local customs.
"But I am the greet Roadstrum," he said, suddenly and loudly. "I am a great one for winning justice for the lowly, and I do not scare easily. I threw the great Atlas at the wrestle, and who else can say as much? I suffer from the heroic sickness every third day about nightfall, and I am not sure whether this is the third day or not. I say you are men and not sheep. I say: Arise and be men indeed!"
"It has been tried before," said Roadstrum's friend, the sheep, "and it didn't work."
"You have tried a revolt, and it failed?"
"No, no, another man tried to incite us to revolt, and failed."
In a 1965 interview with Walter Cronkite, as quoted in "Just A Couple Of Legends" CBS News.com (20 May 1998)
Variant: I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, fine family — and I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.