“Marry a girl from Texas—no matter how tough things get, she’s tougher”

Television news anchor (and Texas native) Dan Rather was credited with saying this in 1996: “Always marry a woman from Texas because she’s always seen worse, no matter what happens to you.”
 
Dan Rather worded the line slightly differently in 2001: “There’s an old saying that you should marry a girl from Texas because no matter how tough things get, she’s tougher.”
 
The origin of the Texas saying is unknown, but Dan Rather popularized it to a national audience.
   
 
Wikipedia: Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin “Dan” Rather, Jr. (born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist who is the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of a television news magazine, Dan Rather Reports, on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9, 1981, to March 9, 2005. He also contributed to CBS’ 60 Minutes. Rather became embroiled in controversy about a disputed news report involving the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election and subsequently left CBS Evening News in 2005 and left the network altogether after 43 years in 2006.
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Quotes
. “There’s an old saying that you should marry a girl from Texas because no matter how tough things get, she’s tougher.”
     
Google Books
Bygones I cannot help recalling
By J. Fred Rippy
Austin, TX: Steck-Vaughn Co.
1966  
Pg. 173:
I am reminded of the father who advised his son to marry a Texas girl because “no matter how bad times get, she will have seen worse.”
 
Google Books
Library Notes
Duke University Library
Issues 47-52
1977
Pg. 6:   
One of them I remember as “If you marry a girl from Texas, no matter what happens she can always say she’s seen worse.”
 
17 March 1996, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Rather Remarkable:The Texas newsman has survived 15 years of controversy and crisis at the CBS anchor desk” by Ed Bark:
“As he himself likes to say, ‘Always marry a woman from Texas because she’s always seen worse, no matter what happens to you.’”
 
25 October 2001, Oakland (CA) Tribune, “Rather defies terrorists by forgoing tests”:
“There’s an old saying that you should marry a girl from Texas because no matter how tough things get, she’s tougher.”
   
Esquire magazine
August 1, 2005, 4:00 AM
What I’ve Learned: Dan Rather
Journalist, 73, New York City
By Cal Fussman
(...)
Always marry a woman from Texas. No matter how tough things get, she’s seen tougher.
 
Google Books
Texas, A Modern History: Revised Edition
By David G. McComb
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press
2010
Pg. 215:
“A man should always marry a Texas woman. No matter what happens, she’s seen worse” (anonymous).