“If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished”
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” is a popular American poem verse from the 1830s. The verse has many joke endings that replace “try, try again.”
“If at first you do succeed, try not to look so astonished” was printed in the Austin (TX) Statesman on March 30, 1970. “Peter’s Prescription: If at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished” was printed in the Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram on January 8, 1983. “‘If at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished.’—Laurence J. Peter, American lecturer (1982)” was printed in the Sacramento (CA) Bee on April 17, 1988. “If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished” was printed in the Dawson Springs (KY) Progress on January 25, 1996.
American film comedian W. C. Fields (1880-1946) is attributed with this take on the saying: “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Then quit. There’s no use being a damn fool about it.” Other variations include “If at first you don’t succeed, call dad,” “If at first you don’t succeed, call it version 1.0,” “If at first you don’t succeed, drink whiskey. You’ll be amazed how little you care,” “If at first you don’t succeed, you’re running about average,” “If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried,” “If at first you don’t succeed, pay someone else to do it for you,” “If at first you don’t succeed, redefine success,” “If at first you don’t succeed, try management,” “If at first you don’t succeed, try two more times so your failure is statistically significant,” “If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving isn’t for you,” “If at first you don’t succeed, try left field” (baseball adage), “If at first you don’t succeed, we have a lot in common” and “Cooking Rule: If at first you don’t succeed, order pizza.”
The Yale Book of Quotations
Edited by Fred. R. Shapiro
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
2006
Pg. 578:
Thomas H. Palmer
U.S. author, 1782-1861
“‘Tis a lesson you should heed,
Try, try again;
If at first you don’t succeed,
Try, try again.”
Quoted in The Village Reader (1840). The identical words, except with “try, try again,” appear in a poem titled “Perseverance; or, Try Again,” printed in Common School Assistant, Aug. 1838. No author is identified.
Newspapers.com
30 March 1970, Austin (TX) Statesman, “Wray Weddell’s Austin,” pg. 1, col. 1:
Emceeing a breakfast for city officials, city aviation dir. Vance Murphy counseled: “If at first you do succeed, try not to look so astonished.”
Newspapers.com
8 January 1983, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 1D, col. 3:
Peter’s Prescription: If at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished.
Newspapers.com
27 March 1986, Tooele (UT) Transcript-Bulletin, pg. 7, col. 4:
If, at first. you do succeed—try not to look too astonished. Kirk Kirkpatrick
Newspapers.com
17 April 1988, Sacramento (CA) Bee, Magazine, pg. 2, col. 3:
“If at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished.
—Laurence J. Peter
American lecturer (1982).
Newspapers.com
25 January 1996, Dawson Springs (KY) Progress, pg. B10, col. 6:
If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.
Newspapers.com
31 January 1996, The River Press (Fort Benton, MT), pg. A9, col. 5 classified ad:
If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
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John Suder
@johnsuder
If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.
10:32 PM · Jun 19, 2007
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Wolf, guess what my username elsewhere is 😊
@wolfcat
@kahlerisms “if at first do you succeed try not to look astonished” people look at you strange if you go oh that did work 😊
11:48 PM · Oct 11, 2008
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ThatBobMadison
@ThatBobMadison
If at first you do succeed ... try not to look too astonished.
#success #succeed #first #firsttime #firsttry #look #looking #joke #jokes #jokeoftheday #dadjoke #dadjokes
11:01 AM · May 2, 2024
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Verifried Drunk™®©
@VerifiedDrunk
If at first you do succeed try not to look astonished
9:54 PM · Aug 4, 2024