WIST Quotations

Davies, Robertson -- “Literature and Moral Purpose” (1990)

Dave — Mon, 18 May 2015 13:27:15 +0000

The result of a single action may spread like the circles that expand when a stone is thrown into a pond, until they touch places and people unguessed at by the person who threw the stone.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
“Literature and Moral Purpose” (1990)

Davies, Robertson -- “Mehitabel,” Toronto Daily Star (21 Nov 1959)

Dave — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:42:00 +0000

Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
“Mehitabel,” Toronto Daily Star (21 Nov 1959)

Reprinted in The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies (1990).

Davies, Robertson -- “Too Much, Too Fast,” Peterborough Examiner (Canada) (1962-06-16)

Dave — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:32:11 +0000

A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity, and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
“Too Much, Too Fast,” Peterborough Examiner (Canada) (1962-06-16)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- A Mixture of Frailties, ch. 1 (1958)

Dave — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 19:30:09 +0000

Art’s distillation. Experience is wine, and art is the brandy we distill from it.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
A Mixture of Frailties, ch. 1 (1958)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- Samuel Marchbanks’ Almanack (1967)

Dave — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 01:04:01 +0000

Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Samuel Marchbanks’ Almanack (1967)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- Tempest-tost (1951)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Tempest-tost (1951)

Commonly misattributed to Henri-Louis Bergson.

Davies, Robertson -- Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are others who will lie and scheme and steal to get books as wildly and unconscionably as the dope-taker in pursuit of his drug. They may not want the books to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to range on their shelves, to have at command. They want books as a Turk is thought to want concubines — not to be hastily deflowered, but to be kept at their master’s call, and enjoyed more often in thought than in reality.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

Davies, Robertson -- The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, ch. 20 (1947)

Dave — Tue, 18 May 2021 16:54:55 +0000

Perhaps God made cats so that man might have the pleasure of fondling the tiger ….

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, ch. 20 (1947)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, ch. 20 (1947)

Dave — Tue, 25 May 2021 14:32:21 +0000

The kitten has a luxurious, Bohemian, unpuritanical nature. It eats six meals a day, plays furiously with a toy mouse and a piece of rope, and suddenly falls into a deep sleep whenever the fit takes it. It never feels the necessity to do anything to justify its existence; it does not want to be a Good Citizen; it has never heard of Service. It knows that it is beautiful and delightful, and it considers that a sufficient contribution to the general good. And in return for its beauty and charm it expects fish, meat, and vegetables, a comfortable bed, a chair by the grate fire, and endless petting.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, ch. 20 (1947)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies (1990)

Dave — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:33:52 +0000

An author is like a horse pulling a coal-cart down an icy hill; he ought to stop, but when he reflects that it would probably kill him to try, he goes right on, neighing and rolling his eyes.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies (1990)

Davies, Robertson -- The Manticore (1972)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Imagination is a good horse to carry you over the ground

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Manticore (1972)

Davies, Robertson -- The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (1985)

Dave — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 04:30:45 +0000

To be a book collector is to combine the worst characteristics of a dope-fiend with those of a miser.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (1985)

Davies, Robertson -- The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949)

Dave — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 21:24:15 +0000

If you attack Stupidity, you attack an entrenched interest with friends in government and every walk of public life, and you will make small progress against it.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949)
(Source)