Quotes about damn page 2
L. Neil Smith (1946) American writer
"Libertarians: The Connies Speak Out (Part Two)," http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2005/tle339-20051002-02.html 2 October 2005.
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
alt.fan.pratchett (10 July 2001) http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=uu9i54Ab2rS7EACj%40unseen.demon.co.uk <br class="br">Usenet
H.P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) American author
Letter to Robert E. Howard (16 August 1932), in Selected Letters 1932-1934 edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, p. 57
Non-Fiction, Letters
“The next time I send a damn fool for something, I go myself.”
Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974) American film producer (1879-1974).
Reported in Paul F. Boller, John George, They Never Said It (1990), p. 41-42.
Misattributed
“I don't give a damn for a man who can only spell a word one way.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Unsourced in POP!: Create the Perfect Pitch, Title, and Tagline for Anything (2006) by Sam Horn.
Disputed
Bill Murray (1950) American actor and comedian
Interview with Jessica Lee Jernigan (May 1999) http://jessicaleejernigan.typepad.com/jessica_lee_jernigan/2004/08/archival_interv.html
Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation
Source: Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), Chapter 2
“Corporations have neither bodies to kick nor souls to damn.”
Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) American general and politician, 7th president of the United States
This is widely attributed to Jackson on the internet, but in research done for Wikiquote, no published source has been found. Similar remarks, "Corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned, they therefore do as they like." and "It has no soul to damn and no body to kick." have been attributed to Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow (9 December 1731 – 12 September 1806).
Disputed
“It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.”
Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) American general and politician, 7th president of the United States
Sometimes reported as having been a retort to statements of his political rival, John Quincy Adams, who had boycotted Harvard University's awarding of a Doctorate of Laws degree to Jackson in 1833, declaring "I would not be present to witness her [Harvard's] disgrace in conferring her highest literary honors on a barbarian who could not write a sentence of grammar and could hardly spell his own name." Quoted in News Reporting and Writing 4th edition (1987) by M. Mencher.<br>Unsourced variant: Never trust a man who has only one way to spell a word. <br class="br"> Likely misattributed http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/25/spelling/
“Avoid this crowd like the plague. And if they quote you, make damn sure they heard you.”
Barbara Bush (1925–2018) former First Lady of the United States
Advice about news reporters, to incoming first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a tour of the White House, as quoted in Newsweek magazine (30 November 1992)
Theodore Kaczynski (1942) American domestic terrorist, mathematician and anarchist
"Technology Is The Target", point 2
Hit Where It Hurts (2002)
Giannina Braschi book United States of Banana
United States of Banana (2011)
Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology
Other
“It has to be considered damned unusual that no other union was ever investigated.”
Jimmy Hoffa (1913–1982) American labor leader
Source: Hoffa The Real Story (1975), Chapter 6, The Start of the Frame-Up, p. 103
“Damn Americans… I hate those bastards.”
Carolyn Parrish (1946) Canadian politician
Recorded by an active microphone towards the end of a press scrum, Parrish later claimed her remark referred to the administration of George W. Bush and not the American people overall <br class="br">As quoted in "MP apologizes for calling Americans 'bastards'" http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mp-apologizes-for-calling-americans-bastards-1.361586 (27 February 2003), CBC News
Hermann Göring (1893–1946) German politician and military leader
To Leon Goldensohn (27 May 1946)
The Nuremberg Interviews (2004)
“Madam, I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damn business.”
Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) American politician, 21st President of the United States (in office from 1881 to 1885)
To a temperance reformer.
Quoted in Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur, ch. 8, Thomas C. Reeves (1975).
1880s
“The lie was dead
And damned, and truth stood up instead.”
Robert Browning (1812–1889) English poet and playwright of the Victorian Era
Bells and Pomegranates No. III: Dramatic Lyrics: Count Gismond (1842), xiii.
Maggie Stiefvater (1981) American writer
Ronan about Adam
pg 141
The Raven Cycle Series, The Raven King (2016)
Pim Fortuyn (1948–2002) Dutch politician
That’s all <br class="br">Nederland 2 documentary "The Night of Fortuyn" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgM9JozWOf0
“We could have saved the earth, but we were too damned cheap.”
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) American writer
If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young (2013)
Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments
Clary Fray and Jace Herondale, pg. 405
The Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire (2014)
“We spent too much damn time getting down. Now it’s time to get up.”
Malcolm Azania book From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain
Source: From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain (2007), Chapter 9 “Paranoia: It Can Destroy Ya” (p. 258)
“Up until now I'd always thought RSI meant 'I hate my damn job.”
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Usenet
H.P. Lovecraft book Pickman's Model
"Pickman's Model " - written 1926; first published in Weird Tales, Vol. 10, No. 4 (October 1927)
Fiction
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Often attributed to Twain, but he said it was attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and this itself is probably a misattribution: see Lies, damned lies, and statistics and Leonard H. Courtney. Twain did, however, popularize this saying in the United States. His attribution is in the following passage from Twain's Autobiography (1924), Vol. I, p. 246 (apparently written in Florence in 1904) http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/lies.htm: <br class="br">Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics". <br class="br">Misattributed
“Do not despair: one thief was saved. Do not presume: one thief was damned.”
Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher
Attributed to St. Augustine in The Repentance of Robert Greene, Master of Arts http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Greene/Repentance_Robert_Greene.pdf (1592) by Robert Greene. <br class="br">Disputed <br class="br">Variant: Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume; one of the thieves was damned.
“Compound for sins they are inclin'd to,
By damning those they have no mind to”
Canto I, line 189
Hudibras, Part I (1663–1664)
Context: For his Religion, it was fit
To match his learning and his wit;
'Twas Presbyterian true blue;
For he was of that stubborn crew
Of errant saints, whom all men grant
To be the true Church Militant;
Such as do build their faith upon
The holy text of pike and gun;
Decide all controversies by
Infallible artillery;
And prove their doctrine orthodox
By apostolic blows and knocks;
Call fire and sword and desolation,
A godly thorough reformation,
Which always must be carried on,
And still be doing, never done;
As if religion were intended
For nothing else but to be mended.
A sect, whose chief devotion lies
In odd perverse antipathies;
In falling out with that or this,
And finding somewhat still amiss;
More peevish, cross, and splenetick,
Than dog distract, or monkey sick.
That with more care keep holy-day
The wrong, than others the right way;
Compound for sins they are inclin'd to,
By damning those they have no mind to:
Still so perverse and opposite,
As if they worshipp'd God for spite.
The self-same thing they will abhor
One way, and long another for.
Free-will they one way disavow,
Another, nothing else allow:
All piety consists therein
In them, in other men all sin...
Richard Dawkins (1941) English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author
Richard Dawkins debates Rowan Williams (2013) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVxciEFyBT0&t=32m42s
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) British soldier and statesman
Remark to Thomas Creevey (18 June 1815), using the word nice in an older sense of "uncertain, delicately balanced", about the Battle of Waterloo. Creevy, a civilian, got a public interview with Wellington at headquarters, and quoted the remark in his book Creevey Papers (1903), in Ch. X, on p. 236; the phrase "a damned nice thing" has sometimes been paraphrased as "a damn close-run thing."
Rollo May (1909–1994) US psychiatrist
As quoted in Marriage Today : Problems, Issues, and Alternatives (1977) by James E. De Burger, p. 444
Variant: I think Dostoevsky was right, that every human being must have a point at which he stands against the culture, where he says, this is me and the damned world can go to hell.
As quoted in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Quotations (1998) by Connie Robertson, p. 270
Context: Therapy isn't curing somebody of something; it is a means of helping a person explore himself, his life, his consciousness. My purpose as a therapist is to find out what it means to be human. Every human being must have a point at which he stands against the culture, where he says, "This is me and the world be damned!" Leaders have always been the ones to stand against the society — Socrates, Christ, Freud, all the way down the line.
“There's only one rule that I know of, babies — "God damn it, you've got to be kind."”
Kurt Vonnegut book God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965)
Context: Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies — "God damn it, you've got to be kind."
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
1860s, Interview with Alexander W. Randall and Joseph T. Mills (1864)
Context: There have been men who have proposed to me to return to slavery the black warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee to their masters to conciliate the South. I should be damned in time and in eternity for so doing. The world shall know that I will keep my faith to friends and enemies, come what will.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
As quoted in How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1944; 1948) by Dale Carnegie; though Roosevelt has sometimes been credited with the originating the expression, "Damned if you do and damned if you don't" is set in quote marks, indicating she herself was quoting a common expression in saying this. Actually, this saying was coined back even earlier, 1836, by evangelist Lorenzo Dow in his sermons about ministers saying the Bible contradicts itself, telling his listeners, "… those who preach it up, to make the Bible clash and contradict itself, by preaching somewhat like this: 'You can and you can't-You shall and you shan't-You will and you won't-And you will be damned if you do-And you will be damned if you don't.' "
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
Source: In a phone call to Richard Nixon about a television clip which showed members of the Tanzanian delegation dancing on the UN floor, after the UN voted to recognize China and expel Taiwan. https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/013 Conversation 013-008 of the White House Tapes, 6:30, quoted in * 2019-07-30<br><br><br>The Atlantic note: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/ronald-reagans-racist-conversation-richard-nixon/595102/ and in Ronald Reagan called Africans at UN 'monkeys', tapes reveal https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49177034, 31 July 2019, BBC note: 1970s
“The attractive woman is simply complicated, strictly intelligent and damn charming.”
Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer
Original: La donna attraente è semplicemente complicata, rigorosamente intelligente e dannatamente affascinante.
Source: prevale.net
“Damn, girl. You space so hard, you ought to look into a career at NASA.”
Rachel Caine (1962) American writer
Source: Carpe Corpus
Jonathan Tropper (1970) American writer
Source: The Book of Joe (2005), 2014-January-15 http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Book_of_Joe.html?id=_T5MCwAL4owC,
“I married a damned cereal killer”
Susan Elizabeth Phillips book Nobody's Baby But Mine
Source: Nobody's Baby But Mine
“Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn about anyone else”
L.J. Smith (1965) American author
Source: The Fury / Dark Reunion
“You've lived in America for twenty years. Eat badly, damn it.”
Jennifer Crusie (1949) American writer
Source: Faking It
“You know it's love when you want to give joy and damn the consequences.”
Frank Herbert (1920–1986) American writer
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: Magic Bleeds
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: Magic Burns
“I have a great mind to believe in Christianity for the mere pleasure of fancying I may be damned.”
George Gordon Byron (1788–1824) English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement
“If I was bound for hell, let it be hell. No more false heavens. No more damned magic.”
Jean Rhys book Wide Sargasso Sea
Source: Wide Sargasso Sea
“All I can say is, 'Damn the exam!”
William Shawcross (1946) British journalist
Source: The Queen Mother: The Official Biography
“While there may not be a book in every one of us, there is so often a damned good short story.”
Jeffrey Archer (1940) English author and former politician
“If he weren't so damn cute, none of this would have happened.”
Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song
Source: The Last Song
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
Variant: They're a rotten lot," I shouted, across the lawn. "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.
Source: The Great Gatsby
“My dear, I don't give a damn.”
Margaret Mitchell book Vom Winde verweht (1937 German edition)
Source: Gone with the Wind
“Damn real live people, getting in the way of peaceful ideals.”
John Scalzi book Old Man's War
Source: Old Man's War
Paulo Coelho book By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Source: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer
Source: Devil in Winter
“Damn you. WHY do you plant these things in my head?”
Lauren Myracle (1969) American children's writer
Source: ttyl
Rachel Cohn (1968) American writer
Variant: There's no such thing as a soulmate... and who would want there to be? I don't want half of a shared soul. I want my own damn soul.
Source: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List
“You talk too damn much and too damn much of it is about you.”
Raymond Chandler book The Long Goodbye
Source: The Long Goodbye
Lilith Saintcrow (1976) American writer
Source: Working for the Devil