Don’t Take Life So Serious, Son … It Ain’t Nohow Permanent

Pogo? Walt Kelly? Porky Pine? Albert Alligator? Elbert Hubbard? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: Walt Kelly created the landmark comic strip “Pogo” which combined beautiful artwork with entertaining humor. One strip contained a philosophical remark suggesting that one should not take life too seriously because of its transience. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: The “Pogo” strip published on June 24, 1950 was part of a story arc in which the character Albert Alligator faced the possibility of appearing as a defendant in a legal trial. When Albert saw a gallows-like structure being built he fainted. The first line below is spoken by the porcupine character named Porky Pine who is propping up the body of the unconscious Albert. The second line is spoken by a squirrel character who is building the ominous structure, and the third line is spoken by Porky to Albert as he is revived with a splash of water. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:^[1] 1950 June 24, Long Beach Independent, Comic Strip: Pogo by Walt Kelly, Quote Page 11, Column 4, Long Beach, California. (Newspapers_com)

HEY … FETCH SOME BRANCH WATER!

WHAT’S A MATTER HIM?

DON’T TAKE LIFE SO SERIOUS, SON … IT AIN’T NOHOW PERMANENT.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

A thematic match occurred within an essay by aphorist Elbert Hubbard in the December 1900 issue of “The Philistine”:^[2]1900 December, The Philistine: A Periodical of Protest, Volume 12, Number 1, Editor Elbert Hubbard, Heart to Heart Talks with Philistines by the Pastor of His Flock, Dear Playmate in the Kindergarten … Continue reading

Please do not take life quite so seriously—you surely will never get out of it alive.

A separate QI article about the expression immediately above is available here.

The June 1950 syndicated “Pogo” strip containing the target quotation mentioned above appeared in newspapers such as the “Long Beach Independent” of Long Beach, California and “The Clarion-Ledger” of Jackson, Mississippi.^[3] 1950 June 24, The Clarion-Ledger, Comic Strip: Pogo by Walt Kelly, Quote Page 4, Column 3, Jackson, Mississippi. (Newspapers_com)

In September 1950 the “Bedford Gazette” of Bedford, Pennsylvania printed a real estate advertisement containing a close variant of the statement on the 1947 sign:^[4] 1950 September 22, Bedford Gazette, Section: Want Ads, (Real Estate Advertisement from Suburban Real Estate Company), Quote Page 2, Column 4, Bedford, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com)

DON’T TAKE LIFE SO SERIOUS
YOU CAN’T GET OUT ALIVE
So enjoy yourself: in this lovely 6 room COLONIAL STYLE HOME on W. Pitt Street.

In 1951 Walt Kelly’s strips featuring anthropomorphic creatures residing in the Okefenokee Swamp were collected and published in book form under the title “Pogo”. The strip with the quotation was included in this early book.^[5] 1951, Pogo by Walt Kelly, Chapter IX: Every Day Has Its Dog, Start Page 107, Quote Page 122, Simon and Schuster, New York.(Verified with scans; thanks to Robin Hamilton and S. N. Colowick)

In 1952 a columnist of “The Shreveport Times” in Louisiana recalled a slightly altered version of the statement from “Pogo”:^[6] 1952 November 30, The Shreveport Times, Around Our Town by Viva Begbie, Quote Page 2A, Column 6, Shreveport, Louisiana. (Newspapers_com)

PHILOSOPHICAL INJUNCTION FROM POGO (And how did we ever get along without Pogo?) . . . “Don’t take life too serious; it ain’t nohow permanent.”

In 1975 “The New York Times” mentioned omnibus editions of “Pogo” and also printed a slightly modified version of the quotation:^[7] 1975 September 21, New York Times, Section: The New York Times Book Review, Book Ends, Quote Page 45, Column 3, New York. (ProQuest)

As Pogo once said, “Don’t take life too serious. It ain’t nohow permanent.”

In 2011 Fantagraphics Books published “Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips – Volume 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder” which included the strip with the quotation.^[8]2011, Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Volume 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder, Edited by Carolyn Kelly and Kim Thompson, (Date recorded in corner of first panel, third row, of comic strip … Continue reading

In conclusion, Walt Kelly deserves credit for the text he wrote for the June 24, 1950 “Pogo” comic strip. An earlier thematic match occurred in a 1900 essay by Elbert Hubbard . Also, over the years modified versions of these expressions have been disseminated.

(Great thanks to quotation expert Fred R. Shapiro whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Shapiro located an instance of the original syndicated comic strip containing the quotation. Special thanks to Robin Hamilton and S. N. Colowick who provided scans to QI. Thanks also to discussants Todd Mason, Anton Sherwood, George Thompson, Wilson Gray, Bill Mullins and Jeff Prucher. Additional thanks to Michael De Clercq who contacted QI and mentioned the expression “Don’t take life so seriously, you will not get out of it alive” in French and English. This led to the creation of a separate article located here.)