“I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
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.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Variant: I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
Harry Chapin (1942–1981) American musician
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.”
Graham Greene book The Quiet American
Source: The Quiet American
Richard Dawkins (1941) English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author
Part 1, 00:13:32
The Root of All Evil? (January 2006)
Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) American author
"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.
Paul Bourget (1852–1935) French writer
Pierre Fauchery, as quoted by the character "Jules Labarthe"
The Age for Love
R. A. Lafferty (1914–2002) American writer
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."
Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) American singer and film actor
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.