WIST

Booth, William -- In Darkest England, and the Way Out, Part 1, ch. 5 (1890)

Dave — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:54:38 +0000

It is against Stupidity in every shape and form that we have to wage our eternal battle. But how can we wonder at the want of sense on the part of those who have had no advantages, when we see such plentiful absence of that commodity on the part of those who have had all the advantages?

William Booth (1829–1912), British evangelist, founder of the Salvation Army
In Darkest England, and the Way Out, Part 1, ch. 5 (1890)

Nash, Ogden -- “Crossing the Border”

Dave — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:51:56 +0000

Senescence begins
And middle age ends
The day your descendents
Outnumber your friends.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“Crossing the Border”

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord -- “Maud; A Monodra” (1856)

Dave — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:51:07 +0000

We cannot be kind to each other here for an hour;
We whisper, and hint, and chuckle, and grin at a brother’s shame;
However we brave it out, we men are a little breed.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) English poet
“Maud; A Monodra” (1856)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter to Richard Price (8 Jan 1789)

Dave — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:44:08 +0000

Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) US President (1801-09)
Letter to Richard Price (8 Jan 1789)

Schmich, Mary -- “Wear Sunscreen” Chicago Tribune (1 Jul 1997)

Dave — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:42:41 +0000

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Mary Schmich (b. 1953) American newspaper columnist
“Wear Sunscreen” Chicago Tribune (1 Jul 1997)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter to C. W. F. Dumas (1786)

Dave — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:41:56 +0000

The animosities of sovereigns are temporary, and may be allayed; but those which seize the whole body of people, and of a people too, dictate their own measures, produce calamities of long duration.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) US President (1801-09)
Letter to C. W. F. Dumas (1786)

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Gnomologia (1732)

Dave — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:40:49 +0000

Counsel is irksome when the Matter is past Remedy.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English writer, physician
Gnomologia (1732)

Plutarch -- “Poplicola and Colon Compared,” Parallel Lives [tr. Dryden (1693)]

Dave — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:39:08 +0000

Judgement is to be made of actions in according to the times in which they were performed.

Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
“Poplicola and Colon Compared,” Parallel Lives [tr. Dryden (1693)]

Johnson, Lyndon -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:38:10 +0000

You aren’t learning anything when you’re talking.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) US President (1963-69)
(Attributed)

Sometimes given as "You ain't learning anything when you're talking."

Stephenson, Neal -- “Mother Earth Mother Board,” Wired, 4.12 (1996)

Dave — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:37:06 +0000

The world has actually been wired together by digital communications systems for a century and a half. Nothing that has happened during that time compares in its impact to the first exchange of messages between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan in 1858. That was so impressive that a mob of celebrants poured into the streets of New York and set fire to City Hall.

Neal Stephenson (b. 1959) American novelist
“Mother Earth Mother Board,” Wired, 4.12 (1996)

Inge, William Ralph -- More Lay Thoughts of a Dean (1931)

Dave — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:48:43 +0000

Personalize your sympathies; depersonalize you antipathies.

Dean William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate
More Lay Thoughts of a Dean (1931)

Smith, Adam -- The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1.3.3 (1759)

Dave — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:47:45 +0000

That wealth and greatness are often regarded with the respect and admiration which are due only to wisdom and virtue; and that the contempt, of which vice and folly are the only proper objects, is often most unjustly bestowed upon poverty and weakness, has been the complaint of moralists in all ages.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) Scottish economist
The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1.3.3 (1759)

Talmud -- In Louis J. Newman, comp., The Talmudic Anthology, ch. 282 (1945)

Dave — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:47:08 +0000

If a man repents of his evil deeds, and then returns to the same deeds, he has not truly repented.

The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
In Louis J. Newman, comp., The Talmudic Anthology, ch. 282 (1945)

Rayburn, Sam -- Comment (c. 1953)

Dave — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:45:41 +0000

A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

Sam Rayburn (1882-1961) American lawyer and politician
Comment (c. 1953)

Said during a filmed conversation with reporters, reported in S. Rayburn, Speak, Mister Speaker (1978)

Steele, Richard -- The Spectator, #544 (24 Nov 1712)

Dave — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:42:54 +0000

No man was ever so completely skilled in the conduct of life, as not to receive new information from age and experience ….

Richard Steele (1672-1729) Irish writer and politician
The Spectator, #544 (24 Nov 1712)