Play every game … as if your job depended on it. It just might.
Casey Stengel (1890-1975) American athlete, coach, manager [Charles Dillon Stengel]
The Gospel According to C*A*S*E*Y, ch. 7 [ed. Berkow and Kaplan] (1992)
We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
East of Eden (1952)
The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
A Brief History of Time (1988)
Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third — [“Treason!” cried the Speaker] — may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.
Patrick Henry (1736-1799) American revolutionary and orator
Speech on the Stamp Act, Virginia House of Burgesses (29 May 1765)
Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.
Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004) American historian, professor, attorney, writer
“A Case of Hypochondria,” Newsweek (6 Jul 1970)
Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this. divide his paper into 4. chapters, heading the 1st. Truths. 2d. Probabilities. 3d. Possibilities. 4th. Lies. The 1st. chapter would be very short, as it would contain little more than authentic papers, and information from such sources as the editor would be willing to risk his own reputation for their truth. The 2d. would contain what, from a mature consideration of all circumstances, his judgment should conclude to be probably true. This however should rather contain too little than too much. The 3d. & 4th. should be professedly for those readers who would rather have lies for their money than the blank paper they would occupy.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to John Norvell (14 Jun 1807)
(Source)
Nineteen people flew into the towers. It seems hard for me to imagine that we could go to war enough to make the world safe enough that nineteen people wouldn’t want to do harm to us. So it seems like we have to rethink a strategy that is less military-based.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
The Daily Show (2008-09-18)
(Source)
Interview with Tony Blair.
There are events which are so great that if a writer has participated in them his obligation is to write truly rather than assume the presumption of altering them with invention.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
Preface to Gustav Regler, The Great Crusade (1940)
The experience of being disastrously wrong is salutary; no economist should be denied it, and not many are.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
A Life in Our Times, ch. 11 (1981)
Most editors are failed writers — but so are most writers.
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
(Attributed) (1946)
Quoted by Robert Geroux, "A Personal Memoir," in Tate, Allen, ed. T. S. Eliot: The Man and his Work (1967) (orig. printed in the Sewanee Review, vol. 74 (1966)):
I first met T. S. Eliot in 1946, when I was an editor at Harcourt, Brace, under Frank Morley. I was just past thirty, and Eliot was in his late fifties. [...] agreed with the definition that most editors are failed writers, and he replied: `Perhaps, but so are most writers.'
Sometimes given as "Some editors ..." and prefixed with "I suppose most ..." and "I suppose some ..."
But every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world’s phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man’s story is important, eternal, sacred; that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfills the will of nature, is wondrous, and worthy of every consideration.
Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Demian (1919)
Courage: to bear unflinchingly what heaven sends.
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Heracles, l. 1225 [tr. W. Arrowsmith (1956)]
Without the aid of prejudice and custom, I should not be able to find my way across the room; nor know how to conduct myself in any circumstances, nor what to feel in any relation of life.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Men and Manners, “On Prejudice” (1852)
The best authors are always the severest critics of their own works; they revise, correct, file, and polish them, till they think they have brought them to perfection.
Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #253 (6 May 1751)
(Source)
Too much and for too long, we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community value in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over eight hundred billion dollars a year, but that GNP — if we judge the United States of America by that — that GNP counts air pollution and cigarette advertising and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and it counts nuclear warheads, and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) American politician
Speech, U. of Kansas, Lawrence (18 Mar 1968)
My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfies both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
(Attributed)
In matters of national security emotion is no substitute for intelligence, nor rigidity for prudence. To act coolly, intelligently and prudently in perilous circumstances is the test of a man — and also a nation.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Radio address (11 Apr 1955)
Who’d have thought we were fighting this war against a bunch of jerks.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
(Attributed, 1946)
On seeing the line-up of Nazi war criminals accused at Nuremburg. In Alex Ross, "Watching for a Judgment of Real Evil," New York Times (12 Nov 1995)
Believe in the ethics of Christianity. Can’t accept the mumbo jumbo.
Clement Attlee (1883-1967) English politician and Prime Minister (1945-51)
Interview with his Kenneth Harris, his biographer
Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) English poet and critic
Literature and Dogma, preface (1873)
One must never make a show of false emotions to one’s men. The ordinary soldier has a surprisingly good nose for what is true and what false.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
Letter (Jun 1942), The Rommel Papers, ch. 9 [ed. B. H. Liddell Hart, (1953)]
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)
Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.540-c.480 BC) Greek philosopher [Ἡράκλειτος, Herákleitos, Heracleitus]
(Attributed)
A wife lasts only for the length of the marriage, but an ex-wife is there for the rest of your life.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
(Attributed)
I guess this is why I hate governments. It is always the rule, the fine print, carried out by the fine print men. There’s nothing to fight, no wall to hammer with frustrated fists.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
Travels With Charley: In Search of America, Part 2 (1962)
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)
Almost anything is easier to get into than to get out of.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Agnes Allen, “Agnes Allen’s Law,” in S.Morris, “You Make the Laws,” Omni (May 1979)
That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) American astronaut, aviator, educator
Words after first stepping onto the Moon (20 Jul 1969)
The sound recording does not seem to have the "a" before man. Armstrong long insisted that he said it but it was lost in transmission; his preference has been for the "a" to be included in parentheses. Computer analysis of the recordings have yielded contradictory conclusions as to whether he said it.
I think the metric by which television is considered liberal is literally based on the metric of liberalism in each person’s soul. Peoples’ senses of humor tend to go about as far as their ideology.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
“No News Is Good News,” interview by Adam Bulger, The Hartford Advocate (2008-06-12)
(Source)
On whether The Daily Show is liberal.
If the book is good, is about something that you know, and is truly written, and reading it over you see that this is so, you can let the boys yip and the noise will have that pleasant sound coyotes make on a very cold night when they are out in the snow and you are in your own cabin that you have built or paid for with your work.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
“Old Newsman Writes: A Letter from Cuba,” Esquire (Dec 1934)
The modern world … holds certain dogmas so strongly that it does not know that they are dogmas.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
Heretics, ch. 20 (1905)
Courage charms us becaue it indicates that a man loves an idea better than all the things in the world, that he is thinking neither of his bed, nor his dinner, nor hismoney, but will venture all to put in act the invisible thought of his mind.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1859, Fall)
The mind of man is like a clock that is always running down, and requires to be as constantly wound up.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Men and Manners, “On Cant and Hypocrisy” (1852)
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance — it is the illusion of knowledge.
Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004) American historian, professor, attorney, writer
In Carol Krucoff, “The 6 O’Clock Scholar,” Washington Post (29 Jan 1984)
Full text. In his book, Cleopatra's Nose (1995), Boorstin wrote: "The history of Western science confirms the aphorism that the great menace to progress is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge."
Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.540-c.480 BC) Greek philosopher [Ἡράκλειτος, Herákleitos, Heracleitus]
(Attributed)
Any theory and set of practices is dogmatic which is not based upon critical examination of its own underlying principles.
John Dewey (1859-1952) American teacher and philosopher
Experience and Education, ch. 1 (1938)
A brave colonel makes a brave battalion.
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
(Attributed)
Quoted in R.R. Palmer, "Frederick the Great, Guibert, Bulow: From Dynastic to National War," in E. Earle (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy (1943)
I have said what I meant and meant what I said. I have not done as well as I should like to have done, but I have done my best, frankly and forthrightly; no man can do more, and you are entitled to no less.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (3 Nov 1952)
The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923) German-American diplomat
(Attributed)
The still small voice within you must always be the final arbiter when there is a conflict of duty.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Young India (4 Aug 1920)
We cannot kindle when we will
The fire that in the heart resides,
The spirit bloweth and is still,
In mystery our soul abides; —
But tasks, in hours of insight willed,
Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
Infanterie greift an (1937) [tr. Attacks, ed. L. Allen (1979)]
It is an old habit with theologians to beat the living with the bones of the dead.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Reply to Archdeacon Farrar” (1890)
(Source)
Administrivia: But the flesh is weak
Apologies for the silence this week — the H1N1 flu grabbed me and threw me down on the couch the past few days. I’m feeling much better, and so will be resuming with the regular WIST posts, starting … about … now.
Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #103 (12 Mar 1751)
(Source)
I don’t recommend being a bachelor, but it helps if you want to write.
Nelson Algren (1909–1981) American writer [b. Nelson Ahlgren Abraham]
(Attributed)
Doctrines are always vague; it would ruin a doctrine to define it, because then it could be analyzed, tested, criticised, and verified.
William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) American minister, sociologist, anthropologist.
“War” (1903), War and Other Essays [ed. A. Keller (1911)]
Religions must all be tolerated and the state has to keep an eye that none of them shall derogate the other, because here everyone must find his salvation in his own way.
[Die Religionen müssen alle toleriert werden und der Fiscal muß nur das Auge darauf haben, dass Keine der Andern abruch tue, denn hier muß ein jeder nach seiner Fasson selig werden.]
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
Reply to his secretaries
On whether Catholic schools should be forbidden in Prussia, which was officially Lutheran. Alt trans.: "All religions must be tolerated ...; for in this country every man must get to heaven his own way."
Unreason and anti-intellectualism abominate thought. Thinking implies disagreement; and disagreement implies nonconformity; and nonconformity implies heresy; and heresy implies disloyalty — so, obviously, thinking must be stopped. But shouting is not a substitute for thinking and reason is not the subversion but the salvation of freedom.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Call to Greatness, ch. 3 “America’s Burden” (1954)
(Source)
Adapted from his "A Troubled World," Godkin Lectures, Harvard University (1954-03-17 - 1954-03-20)
Dogma: A hard substance which forms in a soft brain; a coprolitic idea.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Roycroft Dictionary (1914)
(Source)
Yet the will is free;
Strong is the soul, and wise, and beautiful;
The seeds of god-like power are in us still;
Gods are we, bards, saints, heroes, if we will!
Courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
Letter (9 Nov 1942)
Quoted in B. H. Liddell Hart (ed), The Rommel Papers (1982)
As long as we love we will hope to live, and when the one dies that we love we will say: “Oh, that we could meet again,” and whether we do or not it will not be the work of theology. It will be a fact in nature. I would not for my life destroy one star of human hope, but I want it so that when a poor woman rocks the cradle and sings a lullaby to the dimpled darling, she will not be compelled to believe that ninety-nine chances in a hundred she is raising kindling wood for hell.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)
(Source)
I believe that we must find a way to bring ethical considerations to bear upon the direction of scientific development, especially in the life sciences. By invoking fundamental ethical principles, I am not advocating a fusion of religious ethics and scientific inquiry. Rather, I am speaking of what I call “secular ethics,” which embrace the principles we share as human beings: compassion, tolerance, consideration of others, the responsible use of knowledge and power. These principles transcend the barriers between religious believers and non-believers; they belong not to one faith, but to all faiths.
The Dalai Lama (b. 1935) Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader [The 14th Dalai Lama; a/k/a Lhama Thondup / Lhama Dhondrub; b. Tenzin Gyatso]
“Our Faith in Science,” essay, New York times (12 Nov 2005)
Full text.
The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.
Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) French statesman and soldier
(Attributed)
In "Some General Comments, <i>Entre Nous</i> ...," <i>Time</i> (8 Dec 1967) (full text), reviewing the book, La Tragedie du General by Jean-Raymond Tournoux, collecting sayings and quotes by De Gaulle.
