OSRIC: A hit, a very palpable hit.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 304 (5.2.304) (c. 1600)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
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I don’t know what God is.
I don’t know what death is.
But I believe they have between them
some fervent and necessary arrangement.
Mary Oliver (1935-2019) American poet
“Sometimes,” sec. 1, st. 2-3, Red Bird (2008)
More about this quote: wist.info/oliver-mary/81046/
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I don't know what God is. I don't know what death is. But I believe they have between them some fervent and necessary arrangement.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A quotation from Ferenc Molnar
Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of it, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money.
Ferenc Molnár (1878-1952) Hungarian-American author, stage director, dramatist [a.k.a. Franz Molnar]
Quoted in George Jean Nathan, Intimate Notebooks (1932)
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Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of it, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money. Common form of a quote often misattributed to Molière.Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Adlai Stevenson
I’m not an old, experienced hand at politics. But I am now seasoned enough to have learned that the hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1956-06-02), Fresno, California
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I'm not an old, experienced hand at politics. But I am now seasoned enough to have learned that the hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Terry Pratchett
Carrot often struck people as simple. And he was.
Where people went wrong was thinking that simple meant the same thing as stupid.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 15, Men at Arms (1993)
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Carrot often struck people as simple. And he was. Where people went wrong was thinking that simple meant the same thing as stupid.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A quotation from Samuel Johnson
To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity; the next is, to strive, and deserve to conquer: but he whose life has passed without a contest, and who can boast neither success nor merit, can survey himself only as a useless filler of existence; and if he is content with his own character, must owe his satisfaction to insensibility.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1753-11-27), The Adventurer, No. 111
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To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity; the next is, to strive, and deserve to conquer: but he whose life has passed without a contest, and who can boast neither success nor merit, can survey himself only as a…Dave (WIST Quotations)
What would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his children, and before giving them possession should plant upon it thousands of deadly shrubs and vines; should stock it with ferocious beasts, and poisonous reptiles; should take pains to …Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Thomas Bastard
Age is deformed, youth unkinde,
We scorn their bodies, they our minde.
Thomas Bastard (1565–1618) English clergyman, epigrammist
Chrestoleros, Book 7, Epigram 9 “De senectute & juventute” (7.9) (1598)
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Age is deformed, youth unkinde, We scorn their bodies, they our minde.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A quotation NOT from Mark Twain
I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
(Misattributed)
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I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. This appears to have originally been based on a comment by lawyer and jurist Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar in 1884 regarding the death of abolitionist figure Wendell Phillips.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A prodigal starts with ten thousand pounds, and dies worth nothing; a miser starts with nothing, and does worth ten thousand pounds. It has been asked which has had the best of it? I should presume the prodigal; he has spent a fortune — but the miser has only left one; — he has lived rich, to die poor; the miser has lived poor, to die rich; and if the prodigal quits life in debt to others, the miser quits it, still deeper in debt to himself.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 2, § 131 (1822)
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Away with complaints; for he is not poor, who has enough of things to use. If stomach, lungs, and feet are all in health, the wealth of kings can give you nothing more. [Tolle querellas: Pauper enim non est, cui rerum suppetit usus.Dave (WIST Quotations)
I believe that it is better even from the point of view of survival to fight and be conquered than to surrender without fighting.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 6, Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953)
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A quotation from Bill Watterson
CALVIN: This whole Santa Claus thing just doesn’t make sense. Why all the secrecy? Why all the mystery? If the guy exists, why doesn’t he ever show himself and prove it? And if he doesn’t exist, what’s the meaning of all this?
HOBBES: I dunno … isn’t this a religious holiday?
CALVIN: Yeah, but actually, I’ve got the same questions about God.
Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1987-12-21)
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CALVIN: This whole Santa Claus thing just doesn't make sense. Why all the secrecy? Why all the mystery? If the guy exists, why doesn't he ever show himself and prove it? And if he doesn't exist, what's the meaning of all this? HOBBES: I dunno ...Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Franklin Roosevelt
The Presidency is not merely an administrative office. That’s the least of it. It is more than an engineering job, efficient or inefficient. It is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership. All our great Presidents were leaders of thought at times when certain historic ideas in the life of the nation had to be clarified.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Interview (1932-09-11), New York Times Magazine
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The Presidency is not merely an administrative office. That's the least of it. It is more than an engineering job, efficient or inefficient. It is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A quotation from Chris Boucher
THE DOCTOR: Now drop your weapons, or I’ll kill him with this deadly jelly baby.
LUGO: Kill him, then.
THE DOCTOR: What?
LUGO: Kill him, then.
THE DOCTOR: I don’t take orders from anyone. [Eats jelly baby] Take me to your leader.
Chris Boucher (1943-2022) British TV screenwriter, script editor, novelist
Doctor Who (1963), 14×04 “The Face of Evil,” Part 1 (1977-01-01)
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THE DOCTOR: Now drop your weapons, or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby. LUGO: Kill him, then. THE DOCTOR: What? LUGO: Kill him, then. THE DOCTOR: I don't take orders from anyone. [Eats jelly baby] Take me to your leader.Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Douglas Adams
SLARTIBARTFAST: Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humourist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Phase 1, “Fit the 4th” (BBC Radio) (1978-03-29)
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The sinner sins against himself. The wrong-doer wrongs himself by making himself evil. [Ὁ ἁμαρτάνων ἑαυτῷ ἁμαρτάνει: ὁ ἀδικῶν ἑαυτὸν ἀδικεῖ, ἑαυτὸν, ἑαυτὸν κακὸν ποιῶν.] (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations: He that sinneth, sinneth unto himself.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A quotation from Barbara Walters
Parents of young children should realize that few people, and maybe no one, will find their children as enchanting as they do.
Barbara Walters (1929-2022) American broadcast journalist
How to Talk with Practically Anybody About Practically Anything, ch. 4 (1970)
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A quotation from Bertrand Russell
Without self-respect genuine happiness is scarcely possible. And the man who is ashamed of his work can hardly achieve self-respect.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 2, ch. 14 “Work” (1930)
NOTE: The Conquest of Happiness is one of the works falling into the Public Domain in the US as of January 1, 2026!
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A quotation from Thomas Fuller
A Book that is shut, is but a Block.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 23 (1732)
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Our politicians have truly made a pact with the Devil. One watches them spend more and more of their time and energy grubbing, coaxing, flattering, and whoring for money. Terrified of being cut off from the mother’s milk, they stand like morons in the rising sea of contempt that threatens to drown the whole system. Then they wonder why no one likes them anymore.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1998-01), “Introduction,” You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You (1998)
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A quotation from Ambrose Bierce
BOOK-LEARNING, n. The dunce’s derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Book-learning,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14)
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BOOK-LEARNING, n. The dunce’s derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance. Not collected in later books.Dave (WIST Quotations)
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To sound off with a cheerful "give me liberty or give me death" sort of argument in the face of the unprecedented and inconceivable potential of destruction in nuclear warfare is not even hollow; it is downright ridiculous.Dave (WIST Quotations)
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Owl was telling Kanga an Interesting Anecdote full of long words like Encyclopædia and Rhododendron to which Kanga wasn’t listening.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 8 “Christopher Robin Leads an Expotition” (1926)
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Owl was telling Kanga an Interesting Anecdote full of long words like Encyclopædia and Rhododendron to which Kanga wasn't listening.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A quotation from Alfred North Whitehead
We think in generalities, but we live in detail.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
Essay (1926-08), “The Education of an Englishman,” Atlantic Monthly
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A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt
I do not know Mr. Willkie, but the headline in one of the metropolitan papers yesterday said: “Willkie Aims At Unity, Defense and Recovery.” I’m discouraged. In Heaven’s name, will anyone aim at anything else?
Sometimes I wonder if we shall ever grow up in our politics and say definite things which mean something, or whether we shall always go on using generalities to which everyone can subscribe, and which mean very little.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1940-07-01), “My Day”
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I do not know Mr. Willkie, but the headline in one of the metropolitan papers yesterday said: "Willkie Aims At Unity, Defense and Recovery." I'm discouraged.Dave (WIST Quotations)
CREON: A woman of hot temper -- and a man the same -- Is a less dangerous enemy than one quiet and clever. [ΚΡΈΩΝ: Γυνὴ γὰρ ὀξύθυμος, ὡς δ᾽ αὔτως ἀνήρ, ῥᾴων φυλάσσειν ἢ σιωπηλὸς σοφή.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies. That means he knows only one class: enemies.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
(Attributed)
More about this quote: wist.info/nietzsche-friedrich/…
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A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies. That means he knows only one class: enemies. This is frequently attributed to Nietzsche, without citation -- a clue that it is a paraphrase of a more complex or nuanced passage.Dave (WIST Quotations)
A quotation from Mme de Sévigné
Fortune is always on the side of the largest battalions.
[La fortune est toujours pour les gros bataillons]
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné (1626-1696) French aristocrat, woman of letters [Madame de Sévigné, Mme de Sévigné]
Letter (1673-12-22) to Mme. de Grignan [ed. Hoyt and Ward (1896), No. 202]
More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/sevigne-mme/80969/
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Fortune is always on the side of the largest battalions. [La fortune est toujours pour les gros bataillons] (Source (French), No. 118). Other translations: Fortune generally declares in favor of numerous battalions. [Source (1811), No.Dave (WIST Quotations)
Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
(Attributed)
More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/35981/
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Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order. Attributed by Josiah Quincy III, as described anecdotally in L.Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Henry Commager
We do not protect freedom in order to indulge error. We protect freedom in order to discover truth. We do not maintain freedom in order to permit eccentricity to flourish; we maintain freedom in order that society may profit from criticism, even eccentric criticism. We do not encourage dissent for sentimental reasons; we encourage dissent because we cannot live without it.
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1954), “The Necessity of Freedom,” Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent
More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
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We do not protect freedom in order to indulge error. We protect freedom in order to discover truth. We do not maintain freedom in order to permit eccentricity to flourish; we maintain freedom in order that society may profit from criticism, even ecce…Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Mignon McLaughlin
Of course no one is so sensitive as you, but try to remember they think they are.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 4 (1966)
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Of course no one is so sensitive as you, but try to remember they think they are.Dave (WIST Quotations)
But it is just those books which a man possesses, but does not read, which constitute the most suspicious evidence against him. The Spanish Inquisition have deliberated on that point, and have come to a conclusion that places the matter beyond further doubt.
[Mais ce sont précisément les livres qu’un homme ne lit pas qui l’accusent les plus. L’inquisition d’Espagne a jugé ce point, et l’a mis hors de doute.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Toilers of the Sea [Les Travailleurs de la Mer], Book 1, ch. 4 (1866) [tr. Thomas (1911)]
More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/80957/
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A quotation from Wendell Berry
We make war, we are told, for the love of peace. We subvert our Bill of Rights and impose our will abroad for the sake of freedom and the rule of law. We honor greed and waste with the name of economy. We allow ever greater wealth and power to accumulate in the hands of a privileged few only to provide jobs for working people and charity to the poor. And we sanctify all this as Christian, though the Gospels support none of it by so much as a line or a word.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Speech (2005-05-14), Commencement, Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, Kentucky
More about this quote: wist.info/berry-wendell/80955/
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We make war, we are told, for the love of peace. We subvert our Bill of Rights and impose our will abroad for the sake of freedom and the rule of law. We honor greed and waste with the name of economy. We allow ever greater wealth and power to…Dave (WIST Quotations)
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A quotation from Joseph Addison
I have often thought if the minds of men were laid open, we should see but little difference between that of the wise man and that of the fool. There are infinite reveries, numberless extravagances, and a perpetual train of vanities which pass through both. The great difference is, that the first knows how to pick and cull his thoughts for conversation, by suppressing some, and communicating others; whereas the other lets them all indifferently fly out in words.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-11-17), The Spectator, No. 225
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A quotation from Judith Martin
Dishonesty is not the only alternative to honesty. There is also the highly underrated virtue of shutting up.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (2014-12-19)
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Aoi_X_Kaizaki
in reply to WIST Quotations • • •Yeah, well I try doing it and I don't get love, friends, nor money. Which means I'm a failure.
Does that means I must find a grave to sleep in?