are repeated at the beginning of the observation. But in some cases, you’ll see the word appear at both the beginning and—emphatically—at the very end of the admonition, as in
Never drink if you’ve got any work to do. Never.
Mencken then laid out the other two rules in the traditional manner (the italics are mine): “Secondly,
Winston Churchill also used a before-and-after approach in the concluding line of an oft-quoted observation about facing danger:
One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger
and try to run away from it.
If you do that, you will double the danger.
But if you meet it promptly and without flinching,
you will reduce the danger by half.
Never run away from anything. Never!
With some multiple neverisms, the key words appear at the conclusion of a longer passage. In a 1961
Consider the public. Treat it with tact and courtesy.
It will accept much from you if you are clever enough to win it to your side.
Never fear or despise it.
Coax it, charm it, interest it, stimulate it,
shock it now and then if you must,
make it laugh, make it cry, and make it think, but above all . . .
never, never, never bore the living hell out of it.
In the rest of the chapter, you’ll find nothing but multiple neverisms. They come from all kinds of people and from every sector of life. And they’ve all been offered by people hoping their words will never, ever be misunderstood.
Never, ever leave a hickey.
That little trick grew really old after junior high school.DAN ANDERSON & MAGGIE BERMAN,
Never, never let a person know you’re frightened.
And a group of them . . . absolutely never.
Fear brings out the worst in everybody.MAYA ANGELOU,
Never, absolutely never, compromise your principles.MARY KAY ASH
Never, never,
Write it down immediately and date it.CHARLES L. BLOCKSON,
Never, ever, say anything “off the record”
if you don’t want to see it in print.ILONA M. BRAY
Never, never try to be funny!MEL BROOKS,
Brooks explained: “The actors must be serious. Only the situation must be absurd. Funny is in the writing, not in the performing.” Earlier in his career, as The 2,000-Year-Old Man, Brooks offered a neveristic secret to longevity: “Never, ever touch fried food.”
Never be the first to arrive at a party or the last to go home,
and never, ever be both.DAVID BROWN
This appeared in a 2001
Never,
and that includes you and me.HELEN GURLEY BROWN
This appeared in a 1994 column in
Never, ever underestimate your readers.
Everything you do registers.RITA MAE BROWN,
Never, never listen to anybody who tries to discourage you.MARIAH CAREY
Never, ever, threaten unless you’re