Administrivia: Themes (and Variations)

In 2013, I adopted for this WordPress blog a highly modified version of the “Twenty-Ten” theme. And that’s served me well for the past nine years.

This week, I introduced a new theme, also highly modified, for the modern(ish) Internet of 2022.

The primary difference is that the new theme, based on the Astra framework, programmed by Philip Lakra, via Guru.com, to accommodate my very unconventional use of WordPress for this quotation database, is now reactive. Which means that if you view this site with a phone, rather than a desktop, it will accommodate the size and form factor and give you something that’s actually a hell of a lot more readable and usable.

(Ish. I still have a lot of tweaks I want to do. Aesthetic design between mobiles and desktops is a complex affair. But, fundamentally, the new setup works.)

So things may look a little different here, for those live human beings that come to my site. And they will likely continue to change and improve over the next several weeks. If you run across something that seems downright broken, please do let me know at mailto:dave@wist.info … I want to make this a usable research and information (.info!) site for anyone who runs across it.

Thanks for your patience. Let’s find something interesting that someone said!


 
Added on 30-Sep-22; last updated 30-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
More ~~Admin posts

Whoa, little book! Slow up! Easy there! Steady!
We’ve reached the finishing post, yet you’re still ready
To gallop uncontrollably on, to run
Past the last page, as if your job weren’t done.
(I’d have called it a day after page one!)
My reader’s fed up now, about to drop,
And my copyist, who longs to shut up shop,
Agrees: “Whoa, little book! Enough! Full stop!”

[Ohe, iam satis est, ohe, libelle,
Iam pervenimus usque ad umbilicos.
Tu procedere adhuc et ire quaeris,
Nec summa potes in schida teneri,
5Sic tamquam tibi res peracta non sit,
Quae prima quoque pagina peracta est.
Iam lector queriturque deficitque,
Iam librarius hoc et ipse dicit
“Ohe, iam satis est, ohe, libelle.”]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 4, epigram 89 (4.89) [tr. Michie (1972)]
    (Source)


The last epigram in Book 4. (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Oh, 't is enough, it is enough, my book;
Upon the utmost page thou now dost look.
Would'st thou swell further yet? yet larger be?
Not leave thy paragraphs and margins free?
As if to some known period thou didst tend,
Wehn ev'ry epigram may be thy end.
Reader and printer tired, no more can brook;
'T is time thyself pronounce the last line strook.
Oh, 't is enough, oh, 't is enough, my book.
[tr. Killigrew (1695)]

Enough, enough! little book! we have already reached the end of the parchment. You would still go on, and add to your bulk, and cannot confine yourself within due limits; just as if you had not done enough, when you had completed the first page. The reader is now quite querulous, and out of patience; the librarius himself now cries out, "Enough, enough, little book."
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1897)]

Ho, there! Ho, there! 'tis now enough, my little book. We have now come to the very end: you still want to go on further and continue, and cannot be held in even in your last strip, just as if your task was not finished -- which was finished, too, on the first page! Already my reader is grumbling and giving in; already even my scribe says: "Ho, there! Ho, there! 'tis enough now, little book."
[tr. Ker (1919)]

Hold, little book, enough, enough!
Here is the end of the scroll and thee;
Stay thy course ere the path grow rough,
Keep thy bounds for thou art not free,
Many thy sheets, though one should be
Ample space for thy sorry stuff.
Hold, little book, enough, enough!
Here is the end of the scroll and thee.
Wearied readers are harsh and gruff,
Now are they tired of thee and me;
Soon thou shalt meet a rude rebuff,
List to the worn-out scrivener’s plea;
‘Hold, little book, enough, enough!’
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921), "Finis"]

We've filled the scroll; "Hold, hold, enough!" I say,
But still you want to plod your inky way.
Heighho! 'tis finis, and the gap to fill
One page was plenty, yet you're restless still.
The reader flags and grumbles at the stuff,
And now the very penman cries "Enough."
[tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), No. 214]

Whoa, there's enough, whoa now, little book! We have got to the bosses. But you want to go on further and keep going, there's no holding you at the final sheet, as though you had not finished the business which was finished even on page one. Already the reader grows querulous and weary, already the very copyist says "Whoa, there's enough, whoa now, little book!"
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

Hey, you're stuffed, little book, give it a rest.
You've reached the end-papers and still have zest!
What on earth makes you yet want to let go,
When "misfire" our verse reeked from the get-go?
Zip it, my pages, let's call a "time out";
We've hit the back cover -- and still you'd spout?
Look, the reader's pissed and quite unimpressed;
Even our publisher calls you a pest:
"Hey, you're stuffed, little book, give it a rest!"
[tr. Schmidgall (2001)]

Slow down, my book, don't race beyond the goal
Or keep on trotting like a frisky foal.
You've used up all the paper in this roll.
Continuing, you'd make me lose control.
The reader says you might have gone too far,
My scribe says, "Hold your horses where they are."
[tr. Wills (2007)]

 
Added on 30-Sep-22 | Last updated 30-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Martial

A belated discovery, one that causes considerable anguish, is that no one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be unlocked from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or emotional appeal.

Marilyn Ferguson
Marilyn Ferguson (1938-2008) American author, editor, public speaker
The Aquarian Conspiracy, ch. 4 (1980)
    (Source)
 
Added on 30-Sep-22 | Last updated 30-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Ferguson, Marilyn

As one who wills, and then unwills his will,
     Changing his mind with every changing whim,
     Till all his best intentions come to nil,
So I stood havering in that moorland dim,
     While through fond rifts of fancy oozed away
     The first quick zest that filled me to the brim.

[E qual è quei che disvuol ciò che volle
     e per novi pensier cangia proposta,
     sì che dal cominciar tutto si tolle,
tal mi fec’ïo ’n quella oscura costa,
     perché, pensando, consumai la ’mpresa
     che fu nel cominciar cotanto tosta.]

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,” Canto 2, l. 37ff (2.37-42) (1320) [tr. Sayers (1949)]
    (Source)


(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

As he who what he first resolv'd rejects,
And by some fresher reasons is induc'd
Wholly to lay aside his first intent;
So I, now in the mountain's shade arriv'd,
Refus'd th' attempt which I at first desir'd.
[tr. Rogers (1782), ll. 34-38]

Like one, who, some imagin'd peril near,
Feels his warm wishes chill'd by wint'ry fear,
     And resolution sicken at the view,
Thus I perceiv'd my sinking spirits fail,
Thus trembling, I survey'd the gloomy vale,
     As near the moment of decision drew.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 8]

          As one, who unresolves
What he hath late resolv'd, and with new thoughts
Changes his purpose, from his first intent
Remov'd; e'en such was I on that dun coast,
Wasting in thought my enterprise, at first
So eagerly embrac'd.
[tr. Cary (1814)]

As one that what he wished unwisheth now,
     And, changing purpose in a newer drift.
     Doth his first motion wholly disallow;
So wrought I then beneath that gloomy cliff,
     Who, meditating, quenched the venturous hope
     That in her first beginning rose so swift.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]

     And as one who unwills what he willed, and with new thoughts changes his purpose, so that he wholly quits the thing he commenced,
     such I made myself on that dim coast: for with thinking I wasted the enterprise, that had been so quick in its commencement.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]

Like one unwilling for the thing he wills,
Whose second thoughts have made his purpose pale,
And everything upon the threshold fail;
So did I with myself obscure that coast
With thinking much -- the enterprise gave o'er
With vehemence I had embraced before.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]

And as with him unwishing what he wish'd,
     Who changes purpose as new thoughts arise,
     So that his first intentions pass away;
It was with me when on that coast obscure;
     For as thought grew, the enterprise was lost,
     Which at the first so quickly I desir'd.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]

And as he is, who unwills what he willed,
     And by new thoughts doth his intention change,
     So that from his design he quite withdraws,
Such I became, upon that dark hillside,
     Because, in thinking, I consumed the emprise,
     Which was so very prompt in the beginning.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]

And as is he who ceases to will that he willed, and by reason of new thoughts changes purpose, so that he withdraws himself wholly from his beginning, so became I on that dark hillside; so that in my thought I made an end of the enterprise which in its commencement had been so hasty.
[tr. Butler (1885)]

Like unto one who wills not that he would,
     And shifts his purpose with thought's changing tide,
     So that he dare not make commencement good,
Thus acted I on that hill's darkened side;
     In idle thought I wasted the emprise.
     To which so swiftly I first had hied.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]

And as is he who unwills what he willed, and because of new thoughts changes his design, so that he quite withdraws from beginning, such I became on that dark hillside: wherefore in my thought I abandoned the enterprise which had been so hasty in the beginning.
[tr. Norton (1892)]

And as one who wisheth not that which he wished, and for new fancies changeth his resolve, so that he turns him wholly from his undertaking; even in such state was I on that dark slope; for, while I pondered, I brought to naught the enterprise, that was at first so readily embraced.
[tr. Sullivan (1893)]

And as one is who what he wished unwishes,
     And for new thoughts exchanges his set purpose,
     So that he quite departs from his beginnings,
Such I became upon that gloomy hillside;
     Because in thought the enterprise I wasted
     Which had at the beginning been so eager.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]

And as one who unwills what he willed and with new thoughts changes his purpose so that he quite withdraws from what he has begun, such I became on that dark slope; for by thinking of it I brought to naught the enterprise that was so hasty in its beginning.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]

And like one who unwills what he willed first
     And new thoughts change the intention that he had,
     So that his resolution is reversed,
So on that dim slope did my purpose fade
     For I with thinking had dulled down the zest
     That at the outset sprang so prompt and glad.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]

As one who unwills what he wills, will stay
     strong purposes with feeble second thoughts
     until he spells all his first zeal away --
so I hung back and balked on that dim coast
     till thinking had worn out my enterprise,
     so stout at starting and so early lost.
[tr. Ciardi (1954)]

And like one who unwills what he has willed and with new thoughts changes his resolve, so that he quite gives up the thing he had begun, such did I become on that dark slope, for by thinking on it I rendered null the undertaking that had been so suddenly embarked upon.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]

As one who unwills what he willed, will change
     his purposes with some new second thought,
     completely quitting what he first had started,
so I did, standing there on that dark slope,
     thinking, ending the beginning of that venture
     I was so quick to take up at the start.
[tr. Musa (1971)]

     And just as he who unwills what he wills
and shifts what he intends to seek new ends
so that he's drawn from what he had begun,
     so was I in the midst of that dark land,
because, with all my thinking, I annulled
the task I had so quickly undertaken.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]

And just like somebody who shilly-shallies,
And thinks again about what he has decided,
So that he gives up everything he has started,
I found I was on that obscure hillside:
By thinking about it I spoiled the undertaking
I had been so quick to enter in the first place.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]

And then, like one who unchooses his own choice
     And thinking again undoes what he has started,
     So I became: a nullifying unease
Overcame my soul on that dark slope and voided
     The undertaking I had so quickly embraced.
[tr. Pinsky (1994), ll. 31-35]

     And like one who unwills what he just now willed and with new thoughts changes his intent, so that he draws back entirely from beginning:
     so did I become on that dark slope, for, thinking, I gave up the undertaking that I had been so quick to begin.
[tr. Durling (1996)]

And I rendered myself, on that dark shore, like one who un-wishes what he wished, and changes his purpose, in new thinking, so that he leaves off what he began, completely, since in thought I consumed action, that had been so ready to begin.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

     And so -- as though unwanting every want,
so altering all at every altering thought
now drawing back from everything begun --
     I stood there on the darkened slope, fretting
away from thought to thought the bold intent
that seemed so very urgent at the outset.
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]

     And as one who unwills what he has willed,
changing his intent on second thought
so that he quite gives over what he has begun,
     such a man was I on that dark slope.
With too much thinking I had undone
the enterprise so quick in its inception.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]

Like someone half regretting what once seemed knowledge,
     intention shifted around by fresh ideas,
     Starting to throw all old ones overboard,
I stood on that dark slope, pulled by feelings
     So murky they dissipated whatever I'd thought
     I knew, surrendering what once seemed real.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]

Just so, obeying the unwritten rule
That one who would unsieh that which he wished,
Having thought twice about what he first sought,
Must put fish back into the pool he fished,
So they, set free, may once again be caught,
Just so did I in that now shadowy fold --
Because, by thinking, I'd consumed the thought
I started with, that I had thought so bold.
[tr. James (2013)]

 
Added on 30-Sep-22 | Last updated 30-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Dante Alighieri

Today, as in ages past, we are not without tragic proof that the exalted power of some governments to punish manufactured crime dictatorially is the handmaid of tyranny. Under our constitutional system, courts stand against any winds that blow as havens of refuge for those who might otherwise suffer because they are helpless, weak, outnumbered, or because they are non-conforming victims of prejudice and public excitement. Due process of law, preserved for all by our Constitution, commands that no such practice as that disclosed by this record shall send any accused to his death. No higher duty, no more solemn responsibility, rests upon this Court, than that of translating into living law and maintaining this constitutional shield deliberately planned and inscribed for the benefit of every human being subject to our Constitution — of whatever race, creed or persuasion.

Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
Chambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227, 241 (1940) [majority opinion]
    (Source)


Finding coerced confessions that led to the death penalty conviction of four Black men in Florida were a violation of the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment.
 
Added on 29-Sep-22 | Last updated 29-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Black, Hugo

Blessed is he who expects nothing for he shall never be disappointed.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet
Letter to John Gay (16 Oct 1727)
    (Source)


Pope referred to this, in the letter, as "The Ninth Beatitude." He may have used the phrase the previous year in a letter to William Fortescue (the letter is not given a date, but is grouped with a letter from John Gay to Fortescue of 23 Sep 1725). In both letters, Pope indicates he devised the saying many years previously.

Repeated by Benjamin Franklin, without citation, in Poor Richard's Almanack for May 1739.
 
Added on 29-Sep-22 | Last updated 29-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Pope, Alexander

The art of war deals with living and with moral forces. Consequently, it cannot attain the absolute, or certainty; it must always leave a margin for uncertainty, in the greatest things as well as in the smallest. With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are, the greater the margin that can be left for accidents.

[Die Kriegskunst hat es mit lebendigen und mit moralischen Kräften zu thun; daraus folgt, dass sie nirgends das Absolute und Gewisse erreichen kann; es bleibt also überall dem Ungefähr ein Spielraum, und zwar eben so gross bei dem Grössten, wie bei dem Keinsten. Wie dieses Ungefähr auf dereinen Seite steht, muss Muth und Selbstvertrauen auf die andere treten und die Lücke ausfüllen. So gross, wie diese sind, so gross darf der Spielraum für jenes werden.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War?” § 22 (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1984)]
    (Source)


(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

The art of war has to deal with living and with moral forces; the consequence of which is that it can never attain the absolute and positive. There is therefore everywhere a margin for the accidental; and just as much inthe greatest things as in the smallest. As there is room for this accidental on the one hand, so on the other there must be courage and self-reliance in proportion to the room left. If these qualities are forthcoming in a high degree, the margin left may likewise be great.
[tr. Graham (1874)]

The art of war has to do with living and with moral forces; from this it follows that it can nowhere attain the absolute and certain; there remains always a margin for the accidental just as much with the greatest things as with the smallest. As on the one side stands this accidental element, so on the other courage and self-confidence must step forward and fill up the gap. The greater the courage and self-confidence, the larger the margin that may be left for the accidental.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

 
Added on 29-Sep-22 | Last updated 29-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Von Clausewitz, Karl

It is true that the poet does not directly address his neighbors; but he does address a great congress of persons who dwell at the back of his mind, a congress of all those who have taught him and whom he has admired; that constitute his ideal audience and his better self. To this congress the poet speaks not of peculiar and personal things, but of what in himself is most common, most anonymous, most fundamental, most true of all men. And he speaks not in private grunts and mutterings but in the public language of the dictionary, of literary tradition, and of the street. Writing poetry is talking to oneself; yet it is a mode of talking to oneself in which the self disappears; and the product’s something that, though it may not be for everybody, is about everybody.

Richard Wilbur
Richard Wilbur (1921-2017) American poet, literary translator
Acceptance Speech, National Book Award (1957)
 
Added on 29-Sep-22 | Last updated 29-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Wilbur, Richard

Do you know the difference between involvement and commitment? Think of ham and eggs. The chicken is involved. The pig is committed.

Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova (b. 1956) Czech–American tennis player
Newsweek, “Martina: A Style All Her Own” (6 Sep 1982)
    (Source)
 
Added on 29-Sep-22 | Last updated 29-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: ,
More quotes by Navratilova, Martina

Da Vinci Folio A. 10 r.
Da Vinci Folio A. 10 r. Red bracket to the right side of the quoted text (which is written in mirrored form). (Source)

The art of procreation and the members employed therein are so repulsive, that if it were not for the beauty of the faces and the adornments of the actors and the pent-up impulse, nature would lose the human species.

[L’atto del coito e li membri a quello adoperati son di tanta bruttura che se non fussi le bellezze de’ volti e li ornamenti delli operanti e la frenata disposizione, la natura perderebbe la spezie umana.]

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian artist, engineer, scientist
Notebooks, De Anatomia, folio A. 10 r. [tr. McCurdy (1939)]
    (Source)


Windsor Anatomical manuscript A., folio 10 r / R. L. 19009R (Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

The act of procreation and everything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if it were not a traditional custom and if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.
[tr. Brill (1916), after Freud (1910)]

The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.
[Variant tr. Brill (1916), after Freud (1910)]

The act of procreation and everything connected with it is so disgusting that mankind would soon die out if it were not an old-established custom and if there were not pretty faces and sensuous natures.
[tr. Tyson (1961), after Freud (1910)]

The act of coition and the members employed are so ugly that but for the beauty of the faces, the adornments of their partners and the frantic urge, Nature would lose the human race.
[tr. Dalwood (1962) after Bataille (1957)]

The act of copulation and the members employed are so repulsive, that if it were not for the beauty of faces and the adornments of the actors and unbridled passion, nature would lose the human race.
[tr. Armstrong (2013), after Nancy (2009)]

 
Added on 28-Sep-22 | Last updated 28-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Leonardo da Vinci

Civilization, let me tell you what it is. First the soldier, then the merchant, then the priest, then the lawyer. The merchant hires the soldier and priest to conquer the country for him. First the soldier, he is a murderer; then the priest, he is a liar; then the merchant, he is a thief; and they all bring in the lawyer to make their laws and defend their deeds, and there you have your civilization!

Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) American journalist, essayist, author, political activist [b. Callie Russell Porter]
Ship of Fools, Part 2 [Hansen] (1962)
    (Source)
 
Added on 28-Sep-22 | Last updated 28-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Porter, Katherine Anne

          Wars, horrendous wars,
and the Tiber foaming with tides of blood, I see it all!

          [Bella, horrida bella,
Et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 86ff (6.86-87) [The Sybil] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006)]
    (Source)


(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Wars, horrid wars, I view -- a field of blood,
And Tiber rolling with a purple flood.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

Wars, horrid wars, I foresee, and Tiber foaming with a deluge of blood.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]

War, dreadful war, and Tiber flood
I see incarnadined with blood.
[tr. Conington (1866)]

          Dreadful war,
And Tiber frothed with blood, I see from far.
[tr. Cranch (1872), ll. 111-12]

Wars, grim wars I discern, and Tiber afoam with streams of blood.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

          Lo, war, war, dreadful war!
And Tiber bearing plenteous blood upon his foaming back.
[tr. Morris (1900)]

          Woes in store,
Wars, savage wars, I see, and Tiber foam with gore.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 13, ll. 116-17]

          War, red war!
And Tiber stained with bloody foam I see.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

Wars, grim wars I see, and Tiber foaming with streams of blood.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

          War, I see,
Terrible war, and the river Tiber foaming
With streams of blood.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

          Wars, dreadful wars
I see, and Tiber foaming with torrents of human blood.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]

I see wars, horrid wars, the Tiber foaming
with much blood.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), ll. 122-23]

          Wars, vicious wars
I see ahead, and Tiber foaming blood.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), ll. 132-33]

I see wars, deadly wars, I see the Thybris foaming with torrents of blood.
[tr. West (1990)]

          War, fierce war,
I see: and the Tiber foaming with much blood.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

War, I see horrible war, and the Tiber
Foaming with blood.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]

I see brutal wars and bloody torrents frothing in the Tiber.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

 
Added on 28-Sep-22 | Last updated 28-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Virgil

How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is
To have a thankless child.

Shakespeare - How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is To have a thankless child - wist.info quote

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 1, sc. 4, l. 302ff [Lear] (1606)
    (Source)
 
Added on 28-Sep-22 | Last updated 28-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Shakespeare, William

The young should have our respect. How do we know that the coming generation may not prove to be the equal of the present one?

[後生可畏、焉知來者之不如今也]

Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 9, verse 23 (9.23) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Annping Chin (2014)]
    (Source)


Originally numbered by Legge as v. 22. The numbering by translator is shown below. (Source (Chinese)). Alternate translations:

A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present?
[tr. Legge (1861), 9.22]

Reverent regard is due to youth. How know we what difference there may be in them in the future from what they are now?
[tr. Jennings (1895), 9.22]

Youths should be respected. How do we know that their future will not be as good as we are now?
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898), 9.22]

The young should inspire one with respect. How do we know that their future will not equal our present?
[tr. Soothill (1910), 9.22]

You can respect ’em soon after birth, how can one know what will come up to present record?
[tr. Pound (1933), 9.22]

Respect the young. How do you know that they will nto one day be all that you are now?
[tr. Waley (1938), 9.22]

It is fitting that we should hold the young in awe. How do we know that the generations to come will not be the equal of the present?
[tr. Lau (1979), 9.23]

The young should be revered, for how does one know that what is to come will not be as good as the present?
[tr. Dawson (1993), 9.23]

One should regard the young with awe: how do you know that the next generation will not equal the present one?
[tr. Leys (1997), 9.23]

The next generation could be feared, how do you know the future is not better than the now.
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998), 9.23, No. 232]

The young should be held in high esteem. After all, how do we know that those yet to come will not surpass our contemporaries?
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998), 9.23]

The young are to be held in awe. How do we know that what is to come will not surpass the present?
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998), 9.23]

Hold the young in awe. How can we know their generation will not equal our own?
[tr. Hinton (1998), 9.23]

We should look upon the younger generation with awe because how are we to know that those who come after us will not prove our equals?
[tr. Slingerton (2003), 9.23]

Respect those younger than yourself. How do you know that the coming generation may not prove as good as our present one?
[tr. Watson (2007), 9.23]

We should feel threatened by young people because they might supersede us.
[tr. Li (2020), 9.23]

 
Added on 27-Sep-22 | Last updated 27-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Confucius

What moment of ecstasy equals that one in childhood when, after having just been given permission to “go play” with a chum, you are on your way!

No picture available
Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (Mar 1963)
    (Source)
 
Added on 27-Sep-22 | Last updated 27-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Cox, Marcelene

I’ve a theory that one can always get anything one wants if one will pay the price. And do you know what the price is, nine times out of ten? Compromise.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) English writer
The Secret of Chimneys, ch. 22 [Anthony Cade] (1925)
    (Source)
 
Added on 27-Sep-22 | Last updated 27-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Christie, Agatha

Administrivia: Caution – Wet Paint

I’m implementing a new theme here at WIST over the next day or so, which I’ll be fiddling with for a while. I appreciate your patience while that’s ongoing. If you observe something here that seems actually broken, please shoot me an email.

More info about the new theme and what it provides … once I have the kinks worked out. Thanks!


 
Added on 26-Sep-22; last updated 30-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
More ~~Admin posts

The man who has stolen in order never to thieve again remains a thief. Nobody who has ever betrayed his principles can have a pure relationship with life. Therefore when a film-maker says he will produce a pot-boiler in order to give himself the strength and the means to make the film of his dreams — that is so much deception, or worse, self-deception. He will never now make his film.

Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) Russian film director, screenwriter, film theorist [Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский]
Sculpting in Time (1986) [tr. Hunter-Blair]
    (Source)
 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Tarkovsky, Andrei

If any young Miss reads this autobiography and wants a little advice from a very old hand, I will say to her, when a man threatens to commit suicide after you have refused him, you may be quite sure he is a vain, petty fellow or a great goose; if you felt any doubts about your decision before, you need have none after this and under no circumstances must you give way. To marry a man out of pity is folly; and if you think you are going to influence the kind of fellow who has “never had a chance, poor devil,” you are profoundly mistaken. One can only influence the strong characters in life, not the weak; and it is the height of vanity to suppose that you can make an honest man of anyone.

Margot Asquith
Margot Asquith (1864-1945) British socialite, author, wit [Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess Oxford and Asquith; Margot Oxford; née Tennant]
Autobiography, Vol. 1, ch. 7 (1920)
    (Source)


In a similar vein, in More or Less about Myself, ch. 5 (1934) she wrote: "It is easier to influence strong than weak characters in life."
 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Asquith, Margot

The perpetual work of your life is but to lay the foundation of death.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
“That to Study Philosophy Is to Learn to Die” Essays (1588) [tr. Hazlitt (1851)]
    (Source)


Alternate translation:

The constant work of your life is to build death.
[tr. Frame (1948)]

 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Montaigne, Michel de

Time has a way of demonstrating
The most stubborn are the most intelligent.

Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933-2017) Russian poet, writer, film director, academic [Евге́ний Евтуше́нко, Evgenij Evtušenko]
“A Career” (1957)
    (Source)
 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Yevtushenko, Yevgeny

I want you to know that a man is considered pleasant if his manners conform to the common practices between friends, whereas someone who is eccentric will, in all situations, appear to be a stranger, that is, alien. On the contrary, men who are affable and polite will appear to have friends and acquaintances wherever they may be.

[E sappi che colui è piacevole i cui modi sono tali nell’usanza comune, quali costumano di tenere gli amici infra di loro, là dove chi è strano pare in ciascun luogo «straniero», che tanto viene a dire come «forestiero»; sì come i domestici uomini, per lo contrario, pare che siano ovunque vadano conoscenti et amici di ciascuno.]

Giovanni della Casa
Giovanni della Casa (1503-1556) Florentine poet, author, diplomat, bishop
Galateo: Or, A Treatise on Politeness and Delicacy of Manners [Il Galateo overo de’ costumi], ch. 9 (1558) [tr. Einsenbichler/Bartlett (1986)]
    (Source)


(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

And you must understand, that he is pleasaunt and courteous: whose manners bee suche in his common behaviour, as practise to keepe, and maintaine him friendeship amongst them: where hee that is solleyne and way warde, makes him selfe a straunger whersoever hee comes: a straunger, I meane, as much as a forreigne or alienborne.
[tr. Peterson (1576)]

We ought to esteem him alone an agreeable and good-natured man, who, in his daily intercourse with others, behaves in such a manner as friends usually behave to each other. For as a person of that rustic character appears, wherever he comes, like a mere stranger: so, on the contrary, a polite man, wherever he goes, seems as easy as if he were amongst his intimate friends and acquaintance.
[tr. Graves (1774)]

 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Della Casa, Giovanni

A good cause can become bad if we fight for it with means that are indiscriminately murderous. A bad cause can become good if enough people fight for it in a spirit of comradeship and self-sacrifice. In the end it is how you fight, as much as why you fight, that makes your cause good or bad.

Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson (1923-2020) English-American theoretical physicist, mathematician, futurist
Disturbing the Universe, ch. 4 (1979)
    (Source)
 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Dyson, Freeman

There are some who turn everything into warfare, who behave like social bandits and would like to conquer others in everything they do. They have no idea how to live peaceably.

[Hay algunos que todo lo reducen a guerrilla; bandoleros del trato, cuanto ejecutan querrían que fuese vencimiento, no saben proceder pacíficamente.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 218 (1647) [tr. Maurer (1992)]
    (Source)


(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

There are persons who make a war out of everything, real banditti of intercourse. All that they undertake must end in victory; they do not know how to get on in peace.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

There are those who reduce everything to war, veritable highwaymen of friendly intercourse; they seek that all they push through be made a victory; and they know not peaceful pursuit.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Gracián, Baltasar

Nay, we have heard it said that there is not a quaker or a baptist, a presbyterian or an episcopalian, a catholic or a protestant in heaven: that, on entering that gate, we leave those badges of schism behind, and find ourselves united in those principles only in which god has united us all. Let us not be uneasy then about the different roads we may pursue, as believing them the shortest, to that our last abode: but, following the guidance of a good conscience, let us be happy in the hope that, by these different paths, we shall all meet in the end. and that you and I may there meet and embrace is my earnest prayer: and with this assurance I salute you with brotherly esteem and respect.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Miles King (26 Sep 1814)
    (Source)


Where he had "heard it said" might be an 1813 letter from John Adams.
 
Added on 26-Sep-22 | Last updated 26-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Jefferson, Thomas

You there, reader, the over-solemn one,
Take a hike wherever — my verse is spun
Only for blithe, witty cognoscenti
“Up” for priapic jeux de spree aplenty
Or aroused by bells on harlot’s fingers.
He who in these randy pages lingers —
Though more stern than Curius or Fabricius
Soon gets tingly, and anon lubricious;
Then, lo, beneath a toga something pokes.
My little book’s salacious whims and jokes
Will lead even the chastest dames astray;
Taken with wine, my lines can make ’em bray!
Lucretia, more proper than whom none such,
Peeked between my covers, blushed very much,
And threw me down (but Brutus stood glowering).
Brutus, “Ciao!” — and back she’ll be devouring.

[Qui gravis es nimium, potes hinc iam, lector, abire
Quo libet: urbanae scripsimus ista togae;
Iam mea Lampsacio lascivit pagina versu
Et Tartesiaca concrepat aera manu.
O quotiens rigida pulsabis pallia vena,
Sis gravior Curio Fabricioque licet!
Tu quoque nequitias nostri lususque libelli
Uda, puella, leges, sis Patavina licet.
Erubuit posuitque meum Lucretia librum,
Sed coram Bruto; Brute, recede: leget.]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 11, epigram 16 (11.16) [tr. Schmidgall (2001)]
    (Source)


(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

To read my Booke the Virgin shie
May blush, (while Brutus standeth by:)
But when He's gone, read through what's write,
And never staine a cheeke for it.
[tr. Herrick (1658), "On his Booke"]

Haste hence, morose remarker, haste:
Urbanity alone has taste.
No strains Lampsacian foul my page,
Nor feels my brass Tartessian rage.
yet here the mirth that cannot cloy,
Shall often shake thy sides with joy:
Suppose thy mind of graver mold,
Than Curius' self possest of old;
Or had thy features greater force,
Than his, that brav'd the solar course.
Nay thou my nonsense keen shalt read,
Meek made of Patavinian breed.
Lucretia blusht, and dropt the book;
Nor, Brutus there, would dain a look.
Brutus, begone: thy dame, at ease
Will show how my perusals please.
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 3, ep. 64, "To the Morose"]

Reader, if you are exceedingly staid, you may shut up my book whenever you please; I write now for the idlers of the city; my verses are devoted to the god of Lampsacus, and my hand shakes the castanet, as briskly as a dancing-girl of Cadiz. Oh! how often will you feel your desires aroused, even though you were more frigid than Curius and Fabricius. You too, young damsel, will read the gay and sportive sallies of my book not without emotion, even though you should be a native of Patavium. Lucretia blushes, and lays my book aside; but Brutus is present. Let Brutus retire, and she will read.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859). "To His Readers"]

You, reader, who are too strait-laced, can now go away from here whither you will: I wrote these verses for the citizen of wit; now my page wantons in verse of Lampascus, and beats the timbrel with the hand of a figurante of Tartessus. Oh, how often will you with your ardour disarrange your garb, though you may be more strait-laced than Curius and Fabricus! You also, O girl, may, when in your cups, read the naughtiness and sportive sallis of my little book, though you may be from Patavium. Lucretia blushed and laid down my volume; but Brutus was present. Brutus, go away: she will read it.
[tr. Ker (1919)]

Grave reader, go -- wherever you may please --
I'm writing now for Roman cits at ease.
This scroll is full of Priapean rhymes
And sound of castanets from Spanish climes.
Though you more stern than ancient Curius be
You will be fired, methinks, if you read me.
Yet modest maidens at this sportive book
May in their cups perchance with favour look,
And matrons hide it from their lords away --
Meaning to finish it some other day.
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921), "A Warning to Prudes"]

Too serious reader, you may leave at this point and go where you please. I wrote these pieces for the city gown; now my page frolics with verse of Lampsacus and clashes the cymbals with Tartesian hand. Oh, how often you will strike your garment with rigid member, though you be graver than Curius and Fabricius. You also, my girl, will not be dry as you read the naughty jests of my little book, though you come from Patavium. Lucretia blushed and put my book aside, but that was in front of Brutus. Brutus, withdraw: she will read.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

You can leave now, Reader, over-severe,
go, where you please: I write for the city;
my page, now, runs wild with Priapic verse,
strikes the cymbals, with a dancing-girl’s hand.
O, how you’ll beat your cloak in rigid vein,
though you’re weightier than Curius, Fabricius!
You too, that read naughty jokes in my little book,
you’ll be wet, girl, though you’re from moral Padua.
Lucretia would have blushed, and shut my volume,
while Brutus was there; but when he left: she’d have read.
[tr. Kline (2006)]

Persnickety readers, time to leave!
I now write stuff to make you grieve.
My toga off, my lines will jiggle
And with the bellydancer wriggle.
Now what we wear will ask no pardon
For standing out with sculptured hard-on.
To make the Founding Fathers horny,
And Boston matrons less than thorny --
They'll lather up between their thighs
And wonder at their fellows' size.
Of course Lucretia will not look
Till Brutus goes -- then: Seize the book!
[tr. Wills (2007)]

Let every prudish reader use his feet
And bugger off -- I write for the elite.
My verses gambol with Priapic verve
As dancing harlots' patter starts a nerve.
Though stern as Curius or like Fabricius,
Your prick will stiffen and grow vicious.
Girls while they drink -- even the chastest folk --
Will read each naughty word and dirty joke.
Lucretia blushes, throws away my book.
Her husband goes. She takes another look.
[tr. Reid]

 
Added on 23-Sep-22 | Last updated 23-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Martial

It is only in romances that people undergo a sudden metamorphosis. In real life, even after the most terrible experiences, the main character remains exactly the same.

Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) American dancer, choreographer
My Life, Introduction (1927)
    (Source)
 
Added on 23-Sep-22 | Last updated 23-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Duncan, Isadora

But, as for thee, I think and deem it well
     Thou take me for thy guide, and pass with me
     Through an eternal place and terrible
Where thou shalt hear despairing cries, and see
     Long-departed souls that in their torments dire
     Howl for the second death perpetually.

[Ond’ io per lo tuo me’ penso e discerno
     che tu mi segui, e io sarò tua guida,
     e trarrotti di qui per loco etterno;
ove udirai le disperate strida,
     vedrai li antichi spiriti dolenti,
     ch’a la seconda morte ciascun grida.]

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,” Canto 1, l. 112ff (1.112-117) (1320) [tr. Sayers (1949)]
    (Source)


Virgil, offering Dante a tour of Hell. There is some debate, reflected in the various translations, as to whether the "second death" is the death of the soul upon damnation, the endless punishments of the damned, a prayed-for total annihilation to end their torment, or the destruction of Hell after the Last Judgment. See Rev. 2:11, 20:14, 21:8.

(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

     Wherefore I think, and judge it best that you
Should follow me, and I will be your Guide
From hence to places of eternal woe,
Where you shall hear the wailings of despair,
And see the Ghosts of former times lament,
Who eagerly request a second death.
[tr. Rogers (1782)]

But Heav'n in love to thee hath sent me here
A kind and faithful guide -- dismiss thy fear,
     Thro' other worlds to lead thy steps along.
     Thine ears must meet the yell of stern despair,
Where Heav'n's avending hand forgets to spare,
     And tribes forlorn a second death implore.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 20-21]

I for thy profit pond'ring now devise,
That thou mayst follow me, and I thy guide
Will lead thee hence through an eternal space,
Where thou shalt hear despairing shrieks, and see
Spirits of old tormented, who invoke
A second death.
[tr. Cary (1814)]

Now for thy weal I counsel and perpend
     Thou follow hence where I shall lead thee on
     Through realm eternal, whither if thou wend.
Thine ear shall hear the shrieks of hope foregone,
     Thine eye shall see the souls of eld in woe,
     That ever call the second death upon.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]

     Wherefore I think and discern this for thy best, that thou follow me; and I will be thy guide, and lead thee hence through an eternal place,
     where thou shalt hear the hopeless shrieks, shalt see the ancient spirits in pain, so that each calls for a second death.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]

Thou wilt follow me and I will be thy guide --
'Tis for thy sake, I think I can discern.
From hence I'll lead thee through the place alone,
Where thou shalt hear the desperate shrieks, and see
The Antique Spirits in their misery --
Upon the second death they all will cry.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]

To thee then better counsel I commend,
     Follow thou me and I will be thy guide,
     And lead thee hence through the Eternal Realms'
Where thou shalt hear the wail of wild despair,
     And of old times the sorrowful spirits see
     Calling in anguish for the second death.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]

Therefore I think and judge it for thy best
     ⁠Thou follow me, and I will be thy guide,
     ⁠And lead thee hence through the eternal place,
Where thou shalt hear the desperate lamentations,
     ⁠Shalt see the ancient spirits disconsolate,
     ⁠Who cry out each one for the second death.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]

Wherefore I for thy bettering think and decide that thou follow me; and I will be thy guide, and will draw thee from here through an eternal place, where thou shalt hear the shrieks of despair, shalt see the ancient spirits in woe, who each cry upon the second death.
[tr. Butler (1885)]

Now for thy profit in my thoughts I trace
How thou mayst follow, I will guide thee fair,
From here I'll lead thee through eternal space,
Where thou shalt hear the shriekings of despair,
Shalt see the ancient spirits grief-possest,
Who each the second death invokes with prayer.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]

Wherefore I think and deem it for thy best that thou follow me, and I will be thy guide, and will lead thee hence through the eternal place where thou shalt hear the despairing shrieks, shalt see the ancient spirits woeful who each proclaim the second death.
[tr. Norton (1892)]

Wherefore in thy behoof I think and deem it well, that thou shouldst follow me ; and I will be thy guide, and lead thee out from this place through the eternal realms, where thou shalt hear shriekings of despair, shalt see the ancient spirits in their sorrowing, so that each crieth aloud for second death.
[tr. Sullivan (1893)]

And therefore, for thy good, I thus determine.
     That thou do follow me, and I will guide thee,
     And hence will take thee through a place eternal,
Where thou shalt hear the desperate lamentations,
     Shalt see the ancient spirits in their dolour.
     Where for the second death each one makes outcry.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]

Therefore, considering what is best for thee, I judge that thou shouldst follow me, and I shall be thy guide and lead thee hence through an eternal place where thou shalt hear the despairing shrieks of the ancient spirits in pain who each bewail the second death.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]

Wherefore I judge this fittest for thy case
     That I should lead thee, and thou follow in faith,
     To journey hence through an eternal place,
Where thou shalt hear cries of despairing breath,
     Shalt look on the ancient spirits in their pain,
     Such that each calls out for a second death.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]

     Therefore, for your own good, I think it well
you follow me and I will be your guide
     and lead you forth through an eternal place.
     There you shall see the ancient spirits tried
in endless pain, and hear their lamentation
     as each bemoans the second death of souls.
[tr. Ciardi (1954), l. 105ff]

Therefore I think and deem it best that you should follow me, and I will be your guide and lead you hence through an eternal place, where you shall hear the despairing shrieks and see the ancient tormented spirits who all bewail the second death.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]

And so, I think it best you follow me
     for your own good, and I shall be your guide
     and lead you out through an eternal place
where you will hear desperate cries, and see
     tormented shades, some old as Hell itself,
     and know what second death is, from their screams.
[tr. Musa (1971)]

Therefore, I think and judge it best for you
     to follow me, and I shall guide you, taking
     you from this place through an eternal place,
where you shall hear the howls of desperation
     and see the ancient spirits in their pain,
     as each of them laments his second death
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]

The course I think would be the best for you,
     Is to follow me, and I will act as your guide
     And show a way out of here, by a place in eternity.
Where you will hear the shrieks of men without hope,
     And will see the ancient spirits in such pain
     That every one of them calls out for a second death.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]

Therefore I judge it best that you should choose
     To follow me, and I will be your guide
     Away from here and through an eternal space:
To hear the cries of despair, and to behold
     Ancient tormented spirts as they lament
     In chorus the second death they must abide.
[tr. Pinsky (1994)]

     Thus for your good I think and judge that you shall follow me, and I shall be your guide, and I will lead you from here through an eternal place,
     where you will hear the desperate shrieks, you will see the ancient suffering spirits, who all cry out at the second death.
[tr. Durling (1996)]

It is best, as I think and understand, for you to follow me, and I will be your guide, and lead you from here through an eternal space where you will hear the desperate shouts, will see the ancient spirits in pain, so that each one cries out for a second death.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

     Therefore, considering what's best for you,
I judge that you should follow, I should guide,
and hence through an eternal space lead on.
     There you shall hear shrill cries of desperation,
And see those spirits, mourning ancient pain,
who all cry out for death to come once more.
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]

Therefore, for your sake, I think it wise
     you follow me: I will be your guide,
     leading you, form here, through an eternal place
where you shall hear despairing cries
     and see those ancient souls in pain
     as they bewail their second death.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]

And this is why I think you must allow
     Yourself to follow me, and I must guide
     And lead you across an eternal land, where crowds
Of desperate souls will constantly shriek and cry,
     And you will see the souls of the ancient dead
     In pain, wanting another chance to die.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]

But by now I've pondered well
The path adapted best to serve your cause,
So let me be your guide. I'll take you through
The timeless breaker's yard where you will hear
The death cries of the damned who die anew
Every day, though dead already in the year --
No dated stones remain to give a clue --
The earliest sinners died, when time began.
[tr. James (2013), l. 146ff]

 
Added on 23-Sep-22 | Last updated 23-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Dante Alighieri

Civilization, a much abused word, stands for a high matter quite apart from telephones and electric lights. It is a matter of imponderables, of delight in the things of the mind, of love of beauty, of honor, grace, courtesy, delicate feeling.

Edith Hamilton (1867-1963) American educator, author, classicist
The Greek Way, ch. 6 (1930)
    (Source)
 
Added on 22-Sep-22 | Last updated 22-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Hamilton, Edith

          Goddess-born, wherever
Fate pulls or hauls us, there we have to follow;
Whatever happens, fortune can be beaten
By nothing but endurance.

[Nate dea, quo fata trahunt retrahuntque, sequamur;
Quidquid erit, superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 5, l. 709ff (5.709-710) [Nautes] (29-19 BC) [tr. Humphries (1951)]
    (Source)


Nautes encouraging Achilles after fire destroys some of the ships. Sometimes paraphrased in two separate phrases:

  • Quocunque trahunt fata sequamur. -- Wherever the Fates direct us, let us follow.
  • Superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est. -- Every misfortune is to be subdued by patience.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

O goddess-born, resign'd in ev'ry state,
With patience bear, with prudence push your fate.
By suff'ring well, our Fortune we subdue;
Fly when she frowns, and, when she calls, pursue.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

Goddess-born, let us follow the Fates, whether they invite us backward or forward: come what will, every fortune is to be surmounted by patience.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]

My chief, let Fate cry on or back,
'Tis ours to follow, nothing slack:
Whate'er betide, he only cures
The stroke of fortune who endures.
[tr. Conington (1866)]

Wherever Fate may lead us, whether on
Or backward, let us follow. Whatsoe'er
Betides, all fortune must be overcome
By endurance.
[tr. Cranch (1872), l. 840ff]

Goddess-born, follow we fate's ebb and flow, whatsoever it shall be; fortune must be borne to be overcome.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

O Goddess-born, Fate's ebb and flow still let us follow on,
Whate'er shall be, by bearing all must Fortune's fight be won.
[tr. Morris (1900)]

O Goddess-born, where Fate directs the way,
'Tis ours to follow. Who the best can bear,
Best conquers Fortune, be the doom what may.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 97, l. 865ff]

O goddess-born, we follow here or there,
as Fate compels or stays. But come what may,
he triumphs over Fortune, who can bear
whate'er she brings.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

Goddess-born, whither the Fates, in their ebb and flow, draw us, let us follow ; whatever befall, all fortune is to be o'ercome by bearing.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

Goddess-born, let us follow our destiny, ebb or flow.
Whatever may happen, we master fortune by fully accepting it.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]

O goddess-born, there where the fates would have us
go forward or withdraw, there let us follow;
whatever comes, all fortune must be won
by our endurance.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 934ff]

Sir, born of an immortal, let us follow
Where our fates may lead, or lead us back.
Whatever comes,
All Fortune can be mastered by endurance.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981)]

Son of the goddess, let us follow the Fates, whether they lead us on or lead us back. Whatever fortune may be ours, we must at all times rise above it by enduring it.
[tr. West (1990)]

Son of the Goddess, let us follow wherever fate ebbs or flows,
whatever comes, every fortune may be conquered by endurance.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

Son of Venus, whether the Fates will draw us on
or draw us back, let’s follow where they lead.
Whatever Fortune sends, we master it all
by bearing it all, we must!
[tr. Fagles (2006)]

Goddess-born, let's follow where fate draws us, even if we backtrack. Come what may, we'll win out by endurance.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

 
Added on 22-Sep-22 | Last updated 22-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Virgil

KING: All yet seems well, and if it end so meet,
The bitter past, more welcome is the sweet.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 378ff (1602?)
    (Source)
 
Added on 22-Sep-22 | Last updated 22-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: ,
More quotes by Shakespeare, William

 
Added on 21-Sep-22 | Last updated 21-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by McLuhan, Marshall

September ye 15th, 1682
To Ye Aged and Beloved, Mr. John Higginson:

There bee now at sea a shippe (for our friend Mr. Esaias Holcroft of London did advise me by the last packet that it wolde sail some time in August) — called ye Welcome, R. Greenaway, master, which has on board an hundred or more of ye heretics and malignants called Quakers with W. Penne who is ye chief scampe at ye hedde of them. Ye General Court has accordingly given secret orders to Master Malachi Huscott of ye brig Porpoise to waylaye ye said Welcome slylie as near ye coast of Code as may be and make captive ye said Penn and his ungodlie crewe so that ye Lord may be glorified and not mocked on ye soil of this new countrie with ye heathen worship of these people. Much spoyle can be made of selling ye whole lotte to Barbadoes, where slaves fetch goode prices in rumme and sugar and we shall not only do ye Lord great good by punishing ye wicked but we shall make great gayne for his ministers and people. Master Huxett feels hopefull and I will set down the newes he brings when his shippe comes back.

Yours in ye bowels of Christ, Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (1663-1728) American Puritan clergyman, writer
(Spurious)


First printed in an article of the Easton, Pennsylvania Argus (28 Apr 1870), written by James F. Shunk, who claimed that the letter had been found in a "chest of papers" donated to the Massachusetts Historical Society. Though denounced as a forgery almost immediately, the letter continues to circulate now and again (as a particular juicy bit of invective against Puritan hypocrisy). The evidence for considering it a hoax by Shunk is given in Hathaway, "'Ye Scheme to Bagge Penne': A Forged Letter Smears Cotton Mather," The William and Mary Quarterly (Jul 1953).
 
Added on 21-Sep-22 | Last updated 21-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Mather, Cotton

Men who want to be feared must necessarily fear the very people who fear them.

[Etenim qui se metui volent, a quibus metuentur, eosdem metuant ipsi necesse est.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 2, ch. 7 (2.7) / sec. 24 (44 BC) [tr. Edinger (1974)]
    (Source)


(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For those who desire to have others be afraid of them, must needs be afraid of those others in their turns.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]

For they who desire to become objects of terror to others, must dread those who regard them with fear.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]

For it is a necessary consequence, that men fear those very persons by whom they wish to be feared.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

For it is inevitable that those who wish to be feared should themselves fear the very persons by whom they are feared.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

For men involuntarily fear those whom they intimidate.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

Those who wish to be feared must inevitably be afraid of those whom they intimidate.
[tr. Miller (1913)]

 
Added on 21-Sep-22 | Last updated 21-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Cicero, Marcus Tullius

A Conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) US President (1933-1945)
Radio Address, New York Herald Tribune Forum (26 Oct 1939)
    (Source)
 
Added on 21-Sep-22 | Last updated 21-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: ,
More quotes by Roosevelt, Franklin Delano

History should teach us then, that in times of high emotional excitement minority parties and groups which advocate extremely unpopular social or governmental innovations will always be typed as criminal gangs and attempts will always be made to drive them out. It was knowledge of this fact, and of its great dangers, that caused the Founders of our land to enact the First Amendment as a guarantee that neither Congress nor the people would do anything to hinder or destroy the capacity of individuals and groups to seek converts and votes for any cause, however radical or unpalatable their principles might seem under the accepted notions of the time.

Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
Barenblatt v. United States, 360 U.S. 109, 151 (1959) [dissent]
    (Source)
 
Added on 21-Sep-22 | Last updated 21-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Black, Hugo

I am the spirit, ever, that denies!
And rightly so: since everything created,
In turn deserves to be annihilated:
Better if nothing came to be.
So all that you call Sin, you see,
Destruction, in short, what you’ve meant
By Evil is my true element.

[Ich bin der Geist, der stets verneint!
Und das mit Recht; denn alles, was entsteht,
Ist wert, daß es zugrunde geht;
Drum besser wär’s, daß nichts entstünde.
So ist denn alles, was ihr Sünde,
Zerstörung, kurz, das Böse nennt,
Mein eigentliches Element.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Faust: a Tragedy [eine Tragödie], Part 1, sc. 6 “The Study,” l. 1337ff [Mephistopheles] (1808-1829) [tr. Kline (2003)]
    (Source)


Some translations (and this site) include the Declaration, Prelude on the Stage, and Prologue in Heaven as individual scenes; others do not, leading to their Part 1 scenes being numbered three lower.

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

I am the Spirit that Denies!
And rightly so, for all that from the Void
Wins into life, deserves to be destroyed;
Thus it were better nothing life should win.
And so is all that you as Sin,
Destruction, in a word, as Evil represent,
My own peculiar element.
[tr. Latham (1790)]

I am the Spirit that denies!
And rightly too; for all that doth begin
Should rightly to destruction run;
'Twere better then that nothing were begun.
Thus everything that you call Sin,
Destruction -- in a word, as Evil represent --
That is my own, real element.
[tr. Priest (1808)]

I am the spirit who says "nay" to all,
And rightly so; for all that have existence
Deserve that they should perish; so 'twere better
That nothing earthly should enjoy existence.
All, therefore, that you mortals mean by Sin,
Destruction, in a word, what you call Evil,
Is my peculiar element.
[tr. Coleridge (1821)]

I am the spirit which constantly denies, and that rightly; for everything that has originated, deserves to be annihilated. Therefore better were it that nothing should originate. Thus, all that you call sin, destruction, in a word. Evil, is my proper element.
[tr. Hayward (1831)]

The spirit I, which evermore denies!
And justly; for whate'er to light is brought
Deserves again to be reduced to naught;
Then better 'twere that naught should be.
Thus all the elements which ye
Destruction, Sin, or briefly, Evil, name,
As my peculiar element I claim.
[tr. Swanwick (1850)]

I am the spirit that denies!
And justly so; for all that time creates,
He does well who annihilates!
Better, it ne'er had had beginning;
And so, then, all that you call sinning,
Destruction, -- all you pronounce ill-meant, --
Is my original element.
[tr. Brooks (1868)]

I am the Spirit that Denies!
And justly so: for all things, from the Void
Called forth, deserve to be destroyed:
'Twere better, then, were naught created.
Thus, all which you as Sin have rated, --
Destruction, -- aught with Evil blent, --
That is my proper element.
[tr. Taylor (1870)]

I am the Spirit of Negation:
And justly so; for all that is created
Deserves to be annihilated.
’Twere better, thus, that there were no creation.
Thus everything that you call evil,
Destruction, ruin, death, the devil,
Is my pure element and sphere.
[tr. Blackie (1880)]

I am the spirit that negates.
And rightly so, for all that comes to be
Deserves to perish wretchedly;
'Twere better nothing would begin.
Thus everything that your terms, sin,
Destruction, evil represent --
That is my proper element.
[tr. Kaufmann (1961)]

I am the spirit that denies forever!
And rightly so! What has arisen from the void
deserves to be annihilated. It would be best if
nothing ever would arise. And thus what you call
havoc, deadly sin, or briefly stated: Evil,
that is my proper element.
[tr. Salm (1962)]

The spirit which eternally denies!
And justly so; for all that which is wrought
Deserves that it should come to naught;
Hence it were best if nothing were engendered.
Which is why all things you have rendered
By terms like sin, destruction -- evil, in brief --
Are my true element-in-chief.
[tr. Arndt (1976)]

I am the spirit of perpetual negation;
And rightly so, for all things that exist
Deserve to perish, and would not be missed.
Much better it would be if nothing were
Brought into being, Thus, what you men call
Destruction, sin, evil in short, is all
My sphere, the element I most prefer.
[tr. Luke (1987)]

I am the spirit that says no, no,
Always! And how right I am! For surely
It's right that everything that comes to be
Should cease to be. And so they do. Still better
Would be nothing ever was. Hence sin
And havoc and ruin -- all you call evil, in sum --
For me's the element in which I swim.
[tr. Greenberg (1992)]

I am the spirit of perpetual negation.
And that is only right; for all
That's made is fit to be destroyed.
Far better if it were an empty void!
So -- everything that you would call
Destruction, sin, and all that's meant
By evil, is my proper element.
[tr. Williams (1999)]

 
Added on 20-Sep-22 | Last updated 20-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Goethe, Johann von

Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It was not reasoned into him and cannot be reasoned out.

Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
(Attributed)


Variant: "Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It was never reasoned into him and it never can be reasoned out of him."

Widely attributed to Smith, but not found in his works. On occasion cited to his Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy, but not found there. Most likely a variation or misattribution of this Jonathan Swift quotation.
 
Added on 20-Sep-22 | Last updated 20-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Smith, Sydney

No society, certainly not a large and heterogeneous one, can fail in time to explode if it is deprived of the arts of compromise, if it knows no way of muddling through. No good society can be unprincipled; and no viable society can be principle-ridden.

Alexander Bickel
Alexander M. Bickel (1924-1974) Romanian-American law professor, constitutional scholar
The Least Dangerous Branch, ch. 2 (1962)
    (Source)
 
Added on 20-Sep-22 | Last updated 20-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Bickel, Alexander

I’d like to write something that my peers, my colleagues, my fellow writers would find a source of respect. I think I’d rather win, for example, a Writers Guild award than almost anything on earth. And the few nominations I’ve had with the guild, and the few awards I’ve had, represented to me a far more legitimate concrete achievement than anything. Emmys, for example, most of that’s bullshit. Oscars are even worse. We have a strange, terrible affliction in this town. Everybody walks around bent-backed from slapping each other on the backs so much. It looks like arthritis but it isn’t. It’s hunger for recognition. And it’s sort of like, well, I’ll scratch you this time if you’ll scratch me next time. That kind of thing.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
“Rod Serling: The Facts of Life,” interview by Linda Brevelle (4 Mar 1975)
    (Source)
 
Added on 20-Sep-22 | Last updated 20-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Serling, Rod

I know that I suffer and this is no small pain:
Not to know, now that brings some pleasure to
The troubled — ignorance is an advantage amid grief.

[φρονῶ δ’ ὃ πάσχω, καὶ τόδ’ οὐ σμικρὸν κακόν·
τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι γὰρ ἡδονὴν ἔχει τινὰ
νοσοῦντα, κέρδος δ’ ἐν κακοῖς ἀγνωσία.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Antiope [Αντιοπη], frag. 205 (Kannicht) (c. 410 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2015)]
    (Source)


A source for the phrase, "Ignorance is bliss." (Source (Greek); see also TGF frag 204). Alternate translation:

I understand what I endure, and this
Is no small evil; for to the diseas'd
There is a kind of pleasure in not knowing
Their malady; such ignorance is gain
To those who labor under grievous woes.
[tr. Wodhall (1809); Barnes 23, Musgrave 24]

I understand what I suffer, and this is not a small evil:
for not to know that one is ailing has some pleasure,
in misery ignorance is an advantage.
[tr. Will (2015)]

 
Added on 20-Sep-22 | Last updated 20-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Euripides

Probably no parent is truly born in the moment of birth; the miracle more likely happens in the moment the baby first curls its tiny hand around the parent’s large finger.

No picture available
Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (Jan-Feb 1963)
    (Source)
 
Added on 20-Sep-22 | Last updated 20-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Cox, Marcelene

Stuff yourself with food all day, never give your mind anything to do, and you’re a problem! There’s chess, isn’t there? There’s weiqi, isn’t there? — wiser at least to busy yourself with these.

[飽食終日、無所用心、難矣哉、不有博弈者乎、爲之猶賢乎已]
[饱食终日无所用心难矣哉不有博弈者乎为之犹贤乎已]

Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 17, verse 22 (17.22) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Watson (2007)]
    (Source)


There is varied discussion in footnotes as to the specific identity and nature of the game(s) Confucius references. The phrase bo yi or po yi (博弈) can be translated either as "to play chess" or "the game of bo and the game of yi." The game of bo was similar to weiqi (wei-ch'i) (or, in Japan, go; the game of yi was a game like chess, or a board game played with dice (shuanglu), the rules of which have been forgotten. There are also translators who assert it's the other way around, that bo or liubo is the game of chance, and yi was weiqi (go).

(Source (Chinese) 1, 2). Alternate translations:

Hard is it to deal with him, who will stuff himself with food the whole day, without applying his mind to anything good! Are there not gamesters and chess players? To be one of these would still be better than doing nothing at all.
[tr. Legge (1861)]

Ah, it is difficult to know what to make of those who are all day long cramming themselves with food and are without anything to apply their minds to! Are there no dice and chess players? Better, perhaps, join in that pursuit than do nothing at all!
[tr. Jennings (1895)]

It is a really bad case when a man simply eats his full meals without applying his mind to anything at all during the whole day. Are there not such things as gambling and games of skill? To do one of those things even is better than to do nothing at all.
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]

How hard is the case of the man who stuffs himself with food the livelong day, never applying his mind to anything! Are there no checker or chess players? Even to do that is surely better than nothing at all.
[tr. Soothill (1910)]

Stuffing in food all day, nothing that he puts his mind on, a hard case! Don't chess players at least do something and have solid merit by comparison?
[tr. Pound (1933)]

Those who do nothing all day but cram themselves with food and never use their minds are difficult. Are there not games such as draughts? To play them would surely be better than doing nothing at all.
[tr. Waley (1938)]

I really admire a fellow who goes about the whole day with a well-fed stomach and a vacuous mind. How can one ever do it? I would rather that he play chess, which would seem to me to be better.
[tr. Lin Yutang (1938)]

It is no easy matter for a man who always has a full stomach to put his mind to some use. Are there not such things as po and yi? Even playing these games is better than being idle.
[tr. Lau (1979)]

It is surely difficult to spend the whole day stuffing oneself with food and having nothing to use one's mind on. Are there not people who play bo and yi? Even such activity is definitely superior, is it not?
[tr. Dawson (1993), 17.20]

I cannot abide these people who fill their bellies all day long, without ever using their minds! Why can't they play chess? At least it would be better than nothing.
[tr. Leys (1997)]

Eating all day without thinking about anything, such persons are hard to be trained. Are not there some games? Even if playing some games, it is also better than having nothing to do.
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998), No. 462]

There are troubles ahead for those who spend their whole day filling their stomachs without ever exercising their heart-and-mind (xin). Are there not diversions such as the board games of bo and weiqi? Even playing those games would be better than nothing.
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998)]

One who eats his fill all day long, and never uses his mind on anything, is a difficult case. Are there not such things as gammon and chess? Would it not be better to play them?
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998), 17.20]

All day eating and never thinking: such people are serious trouble. Aren't there games to play, like go and chess? Even that is better than nothing. [tr. Hinton (1998), 17.21]

Spending the entire day filling himself with food, never once exercising his mind -- someone like this is a hard case indeed! Do we not have the games Bo and Yi? Even playing these games would be better than doing nothing.
[tr. Slingerland (2003)]

To spend the whole day stuffing yourself and not to put your mind to use at all -- this is hopeless behavior. Are there not such games as bo and yi? It would be better to play these games [than to do nothing at all].
[tr. Annping Chin (2014)]

If a person is well fed the whole day and does not use his brain on anything, it will be difficult for him to be of value in life. Are there poker games and chess? Playing these games is still more beneficial than doing nothing.
[tr. Li (2020)]

 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Confucius

Art is born and takes hold wherever there is a timeless and insatiable longing for the spiritual, for the ideal: that longing which draws people to art. Modern art has taken the wrong turn in abandoning the search for the meaning of existence in order to affirm the value of the individual for his own sake.

Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) Russian film director, screenwriter, film theorist [Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский]
Sculpting in Time (1986) [tr. Hunter-Blair]
    (Source)
 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Tarkovsky, Andrei

The Almighty is a wonderful handicapper: He will not give us everything.

Margot Asquith
Margot Asquith (1864-1945) British socialite, author, wit [Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess Oxford and Asquith; Margot Oxford; née Tennant]
Autobiography, Vol. 1, ch. 8 (1920)
    (Source)
 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Asquith, Margot

Most persons have died before they expire — died to all earthly longings, so that the last breath is only, as it were, the locking of the doors of the already deserted mansion.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
The Professor at the Breakfast-Table, ch. 11 (1859)
    (Source)


Sometimes misquoted as "Many persons ...."

The chapter originally appeared as "The Professor at the Breakfast-Table: What He Said, What He Heard, and What He Saw," Atlantic Monthly (Nov 1859).
 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Holmes, Sr., Oliver Wendell

Why is it that right-wing bastards always stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity, while liberals fall out among themselves?

Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933-2017) Russian poet, writer, film director, academic [Евге́ний Евтуше́нко, Evgenij Evtušenko]
In The Observer (15 Dec 1991)
    (Source)
 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Yevtushenko, Yevgeny

And when thou hast blowne thy nose, use not to open thy handkercheif, to glare uppon thy snot, as if yu hadst pearles and rubies fallen from thy braynes.

[Non si vuole anco, soffiato che tu ti sarai il naso, aprire il moccichino e guatarvi entro, come se perle o rubini ti dovessero esser discesi dal cielabro.]

Giovanni della Casa
Giovanni della Casa (1503-1556) Florentine poet, author, diplomat, bishop
Galateo: Or, A Treatise on Politeness and Delicacy of Manners [Il Galateo overo de’ costumi], ch. 3 (1558) [tr. Peterson (1576)]


(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

It is moreover extremely indecent [...], when you have blown your nose, to draw aside and examine the contents of your handkerchief; as if you expected pearls or rubies to distil from your brain.
[tr. Graves (1774)]

And when you have blown your nose you should not open your handkerchief and look inside, as if pearls or rubies might have descended from your brain.
[tr. Einsenbichler/Bartlett (1986)]

 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Della Casa, Giovanni

It is characteristic of all deep human problems that they are not to be approached without some humor and some bewilderment.

Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson (1923-2020) English-American theoretical physicist, mathematician, futurist
Disturbing the Universe, ch. 1 (1979)
    (Source)
 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Dyson, Freeman

The greatest of sages can commit one mistake, but not two; he may fall into error, but he doesn’t lie down and make his home there.

[En un descuido puede caer el mayor sabio, pero en dos no; y de paso, que no de asiento.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 214 (1647) [tr. Maurer (1992)]
    (Source)


(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

A wise man may make one slip but never two, and that only in running, not while standing still.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

The wisest of men may slip once, but not twice, and that only by chance, and not by design.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Gracián, Baltasar

Hitherto I have been under the guidance of that portion of reason which He has thought proper to deal out to me. I have followed it faithfully in all important cases, to such a degree at least as leaves me without uneasiness; and if on minor occasions I have erred from its dictates, I have trust in Him who made us what we are, and knows it was not His plan to make us always unerring.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Miles King (26 Sep 1814)
    (Source)
 
Added on 19-Sep-22 | Last updated 19-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Jefferson, Thomas

If an epigram takes up a page, you skip it:
     Art counts for nothing, you prefer the snippet.
The markets have been ransacked for you, reader,
     Rich fare — and you want canapes instead!
I’m not concerned with the fastidious feeder:
     Give me the man who likes his basic bread.

[Consumpta est uno si lemmate pagina, transis,
Et breviora tibi, non meliora placent.
Dives et ex omni posita est instructa macello
Cena tibi, sed te mattea sola iuvat.
Non opus est nobis nimium lectore guloso;
Hunc volo, non fiat qui sine pane satur.]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 10, epigram 59 (10.59) [tr. Michie (1972)]
    (Source)


(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

If one sole epigram takes up a page,
You turn it o'er, and will not there engage:
Consulting not its worth, but your dear ease;
And not what's good, but what is short, does please.
I serve a feast with all the richest fare
The market yields; for tarts you only care.
My books not fram'd such liq'rish guests to treat,
But such as relish bread, and solid meat.
[tr. Killigrew (1695)]

If one small theme exhaust a page,
'Though fli'st upon the wings of rage,
To fewer words, tho' not more fine;
And met'st my matter, by the line.
A rich repast, from ev'ry stall,
We see upon thy palate pall.
We fear a sickly appetite,
Where tid-bits onely can delight.
Out oh! may I receive no guest
Who picks the tiny for the best.
His taste wills tand him more to sted,
Who makes no meal up without bread.
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 3, ep. 11]

If one subject occupies a whole page, you pass over it; short epigrams, rather than good ones, seem to please you. A rich repast, consisting of every species of dish, is set before you, out only dainty bits gratify your taste. I do not covet a reader with such an over-nice palate; I want one that is not content to make a meal without bread.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

You have no patience for the page-long skit,
Your taste is ruled by brevity, not wit.
Ransack the mart, make you a banquet rare,
You'll pick the titbit from the bill of fare;
I have no use for suchy a dainty guest;
Who ekes his dinner out with bread is best.
[tr. Street (1907)]

If a column is taken up by a single subject, you skip it, and the shorter epigrams please you, not the better. A meal, rich and furnished from every market, has been placed before you, but only a dainty attracts you. I have no need of a reader too nice: I want him who is not satisfied without bread.
[tr. Ker (1919)]

You like the shortest poems, not the best,
Tis those you always read -- and skip the rest;
I spread a varied banquet for your taste,
You take made dishes and the rest you waste.
And wrong your appetite, for truth to tell
A satisfying meal needs bread as well.
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

You've read one epigram; the rest you skip;
Shortness, not sweetness suits your censorship.
A whole rich mart's outspread before your feet;
And yet a small tit-bit's your only treat.
I want no gluttonous reader, no, indeed!
Still I prefer one who on bread can feed.
[tr. Francis & Tatum (1924) ep. 554]

If a poem of mine fills up a page,
You pass it by. You'd rather read
The shorter, not the better ones.
A fear to answer every need,

Rich and varied, and supplied
With many viands widely drawn
From every shop is offered you,
And yet you glance at it with scorn,

The dainties only pleasing you.
Fussy reader, away! Instead
Give me a guest who with his meal
Must have some homely peasant bread.
[tr. Marcellino (1968)]

A whole damned page crammed with verse -- so you yawn!
     If a poem's too long you move swiftly on;
"Shorter the better!" is your golden rule.
     But markets are scoured to make the tongue drool;
A groaning board's set -- rich sauces for days --
     And yet, dear reader, you want canapés?
But I don't hunger for diners so prude:
     Hail meat and potatoes -- screw finger food!
[tr. Schmidgall (2001)]

If just one poem fills a page, you skip it.
     The short ones please you, not the best. I serve
a lavish dinner culled from every market,
     but you are only pleased with the hors d'oeuvre.
A finicky reader's not for me; instead,
     I want one who's not full without some bread.
[tr. McLean (2014)]

 
Added on 16-Sep-22 | Last updated 16-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Martial

There’s a reason narcissists don’t learn from mistakes and that’s because they never get past the first step, which is admitting that they made one.

Robert Hogan
Robert Hogan (b. 1937) American psychologist
In Jeffrey Kluger, The Narcissist Next Door, ch. 6 (2014)
    (Source)
 
Added on 16-Sep-22 | Last updated 16-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Hogan, Robert

MERL: Funny thing about change, it’s like pulling off a bandage. Hurts like hell when you do it, but you always feel better after.

Hart Bochner
Hart Bochner (b. 1956) Canadian actor, film director, screenwriter, producer
Just Add Water (2008)
    (Source)


The role of Merl Striker was played by Danny Devito.
 
Added on 16-Sep-22 | Last updated 16-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Bochner, Hart

The savage brute that makes thee cry for dread
     Lets no man pass this road of hers, but still
     Trammels him, till at last she lays him dead.
Vicious her nature is, and framed for ill;
     When crammed she craves more fiercely than before;
     Her raging greed can never gorge its fill.

[Chè questa bestia, per la qual tu gride,
     Non lascia altrui passar per la sua via,
     Ma tanto lo impedisce, che l’ uccide:
E ha natura sì malvagia e ria,
     Che mai non empie la bramosa voglia,
     E dopo il pasto ha più fame che pria.]

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,” Canto 1, l. 94ff (1.94-99) [Virgil] (1320) [tr. Sayers (1949)]
    (Source)


The she-wolf (lupa) of incontinence/wantonness, though some associate her with wrath, or with avarice. (Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

This raging Beast, which here you so much dread
Permits not any to pass on their way,
And never leaves them 'till their death she gains:
Her nature so perversely is dispos'd
That she never satisfies her greedy will;
But with each meal her hunger is increas'd.
[tr. Rogers (1782), l. 84ff]

Monster so fell, Numidia never bore,
As she, who riots there in human gore,
By inextinguishable famine stung.
The Fiend her hunger tries to sate in vain.
Still grows her appetite with growing pain.
And ceaseless rapine feeds the rising blaze.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 17-18]

          This beast,
At whom thou criest, her way will suffer none
To pass, and no less hindrance makes than death:
So bad and so accursed in her kind,
That never sated is her ravenous will,
Still after food more craving than before.
[tr. Cary (1814)]

For the fell beast who late, thy steps waylaying,
     Caused thee to shriek, lets none a passage find
     Across her walk, but hindereth e'en to slaying.
Baleful she is, and of so curst a kind.
     Her ravenous maw no glut can satisfy.
     But eats and leaves a hungrier greed behind.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]

Because this beast, for which thou criest, lets not men pass her way; but so entangles that she slays them;
and has a nature so perverse and vicious, that she never satiates her craving appetite; and after feeding, she is hungrier than before.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]

The beast for which you utter such a cry
Suffers none else to pass her way, and will
Obstruct so far their passage as to kill:
Of nature so malignant to the core,
Insatiate hungers, ever longs for more;
And after eating hungrier than before.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]

For lo! this creature, cause of thy great cry,
     Lets none pass her, but so bars the way,
     And with such deadly malice, that she slays.
So evil is her nature and so foul,
     Her lustful appetite is never quench'd
     And after eating she still craves the more.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]

Because this beast, at which thou criest out,
     Suffers not any one to pass her way,
     But so doth harass him, that she destroys him;
And has a nature so malign and ruthless,
     That never doth she glut her greedy will,
     And after food is hungrier than before.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]

Because this beast, for the which thou criest out, lets not any pass by her way, but hinders him in such wise that she slays him. And she has a nature so evil and guilty that she never fulfils her greedy will, and after her repast has more hunger than before.
[tr. Butler (1885)]

That beast, at which thou criest, by this way
     Permits not one to pass, for evermore,
     But bars the passage so, that she will slay.
Of wickedness her nature has such store
     That her keen craving ne'er is satisfied,
     But after food she's hungrier than before.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]

For this beast, because of which thou criest out, lets not any one pass along her way, but so hinders him that she kills him! and she has a nature so malign and evil that she never sates her greedy will, and after food is hungrier than before.
[tr. Norton (1892)]

Because this beast, by reason of which thou criest aloud, suffereth none to come her way, but hindereth so rudely, that she slayeth them. So baneful and accursed is her nature, that she can never glut her ravening greed ; and after feeding she is hungrier than before.
[tr. Sullivan (1893)]

For this same beast, for cause whereof thou criest.
     To pass along her way allows no stranger,
     But hindereth him so far that she doth slay him.
Nature hath she so wicked and malicious
     That never doth she sate her ravenous craving,
     And after food is hungrier than before it.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]

For this beast on account of which thou criest lets no man pass her way, but hinders them till she takes their life, and she has a nature so vicious and malignant that her greedy appetite is never satisfied and after good she is hungrier than before.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]

Because this beast, at which thou criest still,
     Suffereth none to go upon her path,
     But hindereth and entangleth till she kill,
And hath a nature so perverse in wrath,
     Her craving maw never is satiated
     But after food the fiercer hunger hath.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]

     For that mad beast that fleers
before you there, suffers no man to pass.
     She tracks down all, kills all, and knows no glut,
     but, feeding, she grows hungrier than she was.
[tr. Ciardi (1954), l. 90ff]

For this beast, the cause of your complaint, lets no man pass her way, but so besets him that she slays him; and she has a nature so vicious and malign that she never sates her greedy appetite and after feeding is hungrier than before.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]

This beast, the one you cry about in fear,
     allows no soul to succeed along her path,
     she blocks his way and puts an end to him.
She is by nature so perverse and vicious,
     her craving belly is never satisfied,
     still hungering for food the more she eats.
[tr. Musa (1971)]

     The beast that is the cause of your outcry
allows no man to pass along her track,
but blocks him even to the point of death;
     her nature is so squalid, so malicious
that she can never sate her greedy will;
when she has fed, she's hungrier than ever.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]

For that beast, which has made you so call out,
Does not allow others to pass her way,
But holds them up, and in the end destroys them;
And is by nature so wayward and perverted
That she never satisfies her wilful desires,
But, after a meal, is hungrier than before.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]

          This beast,
The cause of your complaint, lets no one pass
Her way -- but harries all to death. Her nature
Is so malign and vicious she cannot appease
Her voracity, for feeding makes her hungrier.
[tr. Pinsky (1994), l. 72ff]

For this beast at which you cry out lets no one pass by her way, but so much impedes him that she kills him;
and she has a nature so evil and cruel that her greedy desire is never satisfied, and after feeding she is hungrier than before.
[tr. Durling (1996)]

This creature, that distresses you, allows no man to cross her path, but obstructs him, to destroy him, and she has so vicious and perverse a nature, that she never sates her greedy appetite, and after food is hungrier than before.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

     That beast -- you cry out at the very sight --
lets no one through who passes on her way.
She blocks their progress; and there they all die.
     She is by her nature cruel, so vicious
she can never sate her voracious will,
but, feasting well, is hungrier than before.
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]

For the beast that moves you to cry out
lets no man pass her way,
but so besets him that she slays him.
Her nature is so vicious and malign
her greedy appetite is never sated --
after she feeds she is hungrier than ever.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]

Because this beast you complain of never lets
Anyone pass her along this road, harassing
And hindering them until she sees them dead,
Her nature being so malign and savage
That she is never able to finish her feasting,
Hungrier after she eats than before.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]

You're bound to lose:
Bound by the spell of this beast pledged to keep
you crying, you or anyone else who tries
To get by. In a bad mood it can kill,
And it's never in a good mood. See those eyes?
So great a hunger nothing can fulfil.
It eats, it wants more, like the many men
Infected by its bite.
[tr. James (2013)]

 
Added on 16-Sep-22 | Last updated 16-Sep-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Dante Alighieri

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. ...
  10. 363