It isn't clear from the source material available when it was first used. Frances Anne Kemble (born in 1809) could be the originator. She wrote these lines:
"A sacred burden is this life ye bear:
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly,
Stand up and walk beneath it steadfastly.
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin,
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win."
or Abraham Lincoln (also born in 1809) ... on one site it claims that he said "onward and upward," in a speech in 1859, but I can't find the context.
or James Lowell (born in 1819) wrote this:
"They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth."
... or they all could have been influenced by a common saying of the time, originated by someone else.
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Mary Church Terrell (born 1863) is often referred to. She said this:
"And so, lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst into glorious fruition ere long. With courage, born of success achieved in the past, with a keen sense of the responsibility which we shall continue to assume, we look forward to a future large with promise and hope. Seeking no favors because of our color, nor patronage because of our needs, we knock at the bar of justice, asking an equal chance."
C.S. Lewis (born 1898) is sometimes cited as well for a quotation:
"Onward and Upward! To Narnia and the North!"
dr. tenma from Astro Boy, everyone knows that.
1934
The Greeks. And then the Romans invaded them.
D w griffith
Downward, upward, backward,
Convection. E2020
upward forward
Emergency - 1972 Upward and Onward 6-22 was released on: USA: 2 April 1977
Motto: "Forward, Upward, Onward, Together"
forward,upward,onward togetherThe Bahamas real motto, which was adopted in 1973 along with the flag and the country is "Forward, Upward, Onward, Together"
Mount Klabat College's motto is 'Onward and Upward'.
The motto of Dominion Road School is 'Onward and Upward'.
Carmel School Digwadih's motto is 'Upward and Onward'.
Alpha Boys School's motto is 'Upward and Onward'.
Ren and Stimpy 'Adult Party Cartoon' - 2003 Onward and Upward 1-1 was released on: USA: 26 June 2003
Harry's Law - 2011 Onward and Upward 2-22 was released on: Canada: 25 May 2012 USA: 27 May 2012 Japan: 1 April 2013
as a Bahamian it is forward upward onward together! cuse weez ni...gas!
The motto of Phi Alpha Literary Society is 'Onward and Upward'.