WIST Quotations

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth’s Theater, New York

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 23:52:13 +0000

Infidels are intellectual discoverers. They sail the unknown seas and find new isles and continents in the infinite realms of thought.
An Infidel is one who has found a new fact, who has an idea of his own, and who in the mental sky has seen another star.
He is an intellectual capitalist, and for that reason excites the envy and hatred of the theological pauper.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth’s Theater, New York
(Source)

Bear, Elizabeth -- Bone and Jewel Creatures, ch. 3 (2010)

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:13:22 +0000

Age had not yet defeated her on all fronts, though it was a war of attrition she knew she was fated to lose.

Elizabeth Bear (b. 1971) American author [pseud. for Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky]
Bone and Jewel Creatures, ch. 3 (2010)
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 8 “The Boss”

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:03:44 +0000

Well, I liked the king, and as king I respected him — respected the office; at least respected it as much as I was capable of respecting any unearned supremacy; but as MEN I looked down upon him and his nobles — privately. And he and they liked me, and respected my office; but as an animal, without birth or sham title, they looked down upon me — and were not particularly private about it, either. I didn’t charge for my opinion about them, and they didn’t charge for their opinion about me: the account was square, the books balanced, everybody was satisfied.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 8 “The Boss”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 5 “Applied Idealism” (1913)

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:55:04 +0000

My duty was to stand with every one while he was right, and to stand against him when he went wrong; and this I have tried to do as regards individuals and as regards groups of individuals. When a business man or labor leader, politician or reformer, is right, I support him; when he goes wrong, I leave him.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 5 “Applied Idealism” (1913)
(Source)

Doyle, Arthur Conan -- Story (1891-08), “The Red-Headed League,” The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2

Dave — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:36:07 +0000

“You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the imagination.”
“A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.”
“You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1891-08), “The Red-Headed League,” The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2
(Source)

Collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, No. 2.

Greenwood, Kerry -- Phryne Fisher, Book 16, Murder in the Dark, ch. 4 [Sylvanus] (2006)

Dave — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:16:25 +0000

He yelled louder, because it is well known to English people that foreigners only pretend to speak those nasty foreign tongues but really understand English if it is shouted loudly enough.

Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher, Book 16, Murder in the Dark, ch. 4 [Sylvanus] (2006)
(Source)

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1877-07 “Dregs” (1877 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 22:57:30 +0000

Mizery luvs company but iz allwuss jealous, — there never waz a man yet but what thought hiz lame back was a good deal lamer than hiz nabors.

[Misery loves company but is always jealous — there never was a man yet but what thought his lame back was a good deal more lame than his neighbor’s.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1877-07 “Dregs” (1877 ed.)
(Source)

Douglass, Frederick -- Speech (1852-07-05), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York

Dave — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 22:42:54 +0000

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Speech (1852-07-05), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York
(Source)

Epicharmus -- Fragment 230 K-A = B 11 DK [tr. Douglas (1985)]

Dave — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 18:41:17 +0000

I don’t want to die, but I don’t worry about being dead.

[Emori nolo, sed me esse mortuum nihil æstimo.]

Epicharmus of Kos (c. 540 – c. 450 BC) Greek dramatist and philosopher
Fragment 230 K-A = B 11 DK [tr. Douglas (1985)]
(Source)

Frag. 230, also identified as frag. 247. Recorded only in Cicero, Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], 1.8/1.15 (45 BC), and sometimes attributed directly to him. Cicero's Marcus explicitly chooses to quote it in Latin, and no full Greek version has been preserved, so the original Greek is unknown. It is thought to be from one of Epicharmus' comedies.

In turn, Cicero's rendition is quoted in Montaigne, Essays, 2.13 "On Judging the Death of Another" (1580). Most of the translations below are from translators of Cicero or Montaigne.

See Kollwitz.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

I would not die too soone,
But care not, when tis doone.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

I doe not feare death but the paine of death, which goeth before it.
[tr. Hoddesdon (1606)]

I would not die, but care not to be dead.
[tr. Browne (1642)]

To dye I'me loth, but weigh not to be dead.
[tr. Wase (1643)]

I would not die, but yet
Am not concerned that I shall be dead.
[tr. Main (1824)]

To quit the scene of life I am right loath;
Once fairly dead, I set it all at nought.
[tr. Otis (1839)]

I would not die, but yet
Am not concerned that I shall be dead.
[tr. Yonge (1853)]

I have no mind to die, but I have no objection to be dead.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

I am unwilling to die, but I care not if I were dead.
[Source (1877)]

I dread to die, but dread not being dead.
[tr. Peabody (1886)]

I do not wish to die, but I care not if I were dead.
[Source (1886)]

Verily I shrink from dying; little reck of being dead.
[tr. Black (1889)]

I am unwilling to die, but I value myself as nothing when dead.
[tr. Taylor/Hunt (1916)]

I do not wish to die; but to be dead, I make no account of.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

It is not death, but dying, that I fear.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

I think nothing of being dead: it is the dying that I dislike.
[tr. Screech (1987)]

I have no desire to die, but I count my death as nothing.
[tr. Habinek (1996)]

I don't want to die but being dead doesn't worry me at all.
[tr. Davie (2017)]

I don't want to die; but being dead — I don't mind that!
[Source]

Schopenhauer, Arthur -- Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 23 “On Authorship and Style [Über Schriftstellerei und Stil],” § 283 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]

Dave — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:43:49 +0000

To use many words to communicate few thoughts is everywhere the unmistakable sign of mediocrity. To gather much thought into few words stamps the man of genius.

[Viele Worte machen, um wenige Gedanken mitzutheilen, ist überall das untrügliche Zeichen der Mittelmäßigkeit; das des eminenten Kopfes dagegen, viele Gedanken in wenige Worte zu schließen.]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 23 “On Authorship and Style [Über Schriftstellerei und Stil],” § 283 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

The use of many words in order to express little thought is everywhere the infallible sign of mediocrity; while to clothe much thought in a few words is the infallible sign of distinguished minds.
[tr. Dircks (1897)]

To use many words for the purpose of conveying few ideas is everywhere the infallible sign of mediocrity; whereas that of an eminent mind is the inclusion of many ideas into few words.
[tr. Payne (1974)]

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 9 “Sex in Education” (1932)

Dave — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:57:03 +0000

I am sure that university life would be better, both intellectually and morally, if most university students had temporary childless marriages. This would afford a solution to the sexual urge neither restless nor surreptitious, neither mercenary nor casual, and of such a nature that it need not take up time which ought to be given to work.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 9 “Sex in Education” (1932)
(Source)

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (2005-03), “Use It or Lose It,” The Progressive, Vol. 69, No. 3

Dave — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:19:23 +0000

Friends, soulwise, these are trying times. Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of our country, and it won’t help if you all cower in places like Madison and the Upper West Side, having hot fantods over the approach of fascism. To the barricades, team. And for Lord’s sake, don’t leave your sense of humor behind.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (2005-03), “Use It or Lose It,” The Progressive, Vol. 69, No. 3

The first two sentences are actually from Strunck's style guide and a typing drill / filler text.

Quote included in The Progressive memorial of Ivins (2007-02).

Howell, James -- Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in French” (1659) [compiler]

Dave — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:55:00 +0000

Old wine, and old friend, and old gold are beloved in all places.

[Vin vieux, amy vieux, Y or vieux sont amez en touts lieux.]

James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian, writer, aphorist
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in French” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)

Howell also gives a Spanish version (in the same source, "Proverbs in Spanish"):

Old wine, and an old friend.

[Vino anejo, y amigo viejo.]

See Alfonso X, Bacon (1624), Herbert (1640).

Euripides -- Medea [Μήδεια], l. 1363ff (431 BC) [tr. Warner (1944)]

Dave — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:22:28 +0000

JASON: O children, what a wicked mother she was to you!
MEDEA: They died from a disease they caught from their father.
JASON: I tell you it was not my hand that destroyed them.
MEDEA: But it was your insolence, and your virgin wedding.
JASON: And just for the sake of that you chose to kill them.
MEDEA: Is love so small a pain, do you think, for a woman?

[ἸΆΣΩΝ: ὦ τέκνα, μητρὸς ὡς κακῆς ἐκύρσατε.
ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: ὦ παῖδες, ὡς ὤλεσθε πατρῴᾳ νόσῳ.
ἸΆΣΩΝ: οὔτοι νιν ἡμὴ δεξιά γ᾽ ἀπώλεσεν.
ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: ἀλλ᾽ ὕβρις οἵ τε σοὶ νεοδμῆτες γάμοι.
ἸΆΣΩΝ: λέχους σφε κἠξίωσας οὕνεκα κτανεῖν;
ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: σμικρὸν γυναικὶ πῆμα τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι δοκεῖς;]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 1363ff (431 BC) [tr. Warner (1944)]
(Source)

Medea and Jason arguing over her murder of their sons. Here Medea blames Jason for deserting her (which he did) in favor of Princess Glauce (whom she has also killed).

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

JASON: How vile a Mother, O my sons, was yours!
MEDEA: How did ye perish thro' your Father's lust!
JASON: But my right hand was guiltless of their death.
MEDEA: Not so thy cruel taunts, and that new marriage.
JASON: Was my new marriage a sufficient cause
For thee to murder them?
MEDEA:Canst thou suppose
Such wrongs sit light upon the female breast?
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

JASON: My children, a bad mother have you found.
MEDEA: My sons, you perish'd through your father's folly.
JASON: Yet my right hand plung'd not the muurderous sword.
MEDEA: But thy foul wrongs, and thy new nuptials plung'd it.
JASON: And for these nupturals hast thou kill'd thy sons?
MEDEA: This to a woman deem'st thou a slight pain?
[tr. Potter (1814)]

JASON: Oh sons, how foul a mother have ye had!
MEDEA: Oh boys, how died ye by your father's guilt!
JASON: Not this right hand of mine slew them, indeed.
MEDEA: No, but thine outrage and new wedding ties.
JASON: So for a bed lost thou thoughtst fit to slay them?
MEDEA: Dost thou count that a light wrong to a woman?
[tr. Webster (1868)]

JASON: O my children, how vile a mother ye have found!
MEDEA: My sons, your father's feeble lust has been your ruin!
JASON: 'Twas not my hand, at any rate, that slew them.
MEDEA: No, but thy foul treatment of me, and thy new marriage.
JASON: Didst think that marriage cause enough to murder them?
MEDEA: Dost think a woman counts this a trifling injury?
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

JASON: My children, what a wicked mother have ye found!
MEDEA: My sons, how did ye perish by your father's fault!
JASON: Nevertheless my hand slew them not.
MEDEA: But injury, and thy new nuptials.
JASON: And on account of thy bed didst thou think fit to slay them?
MEDEA: Dost thou deem this a slight evil to a woman?
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

JASON: O children mine, what miscreant mother had ye!
MEDEA: O sons, destroyed by your own father's lust!
JASON: Sooth, 'twas no hand of mine that murdered them.
MEDEA: Nay, but thine insolence and thy new-forged bonds.
JASON: How, claim the right for wedlock's sake to slay them!
MEDEA: A light affliction count'st thou this to woman?
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

JASON: Oh, what a womb of sin my children bore!
MEDEA: Sons, did ye perish for your father's shame?
JASON: How? It was not my hand that murdered them.
MEDEA: 'Twas thy false wooings, 'twas thy trampling pride.
JASON: Thou hast said it! For thy lust of love they died.
MEDEA: And love to women a slight thing should be?
[tr. Murray (1906)]

JASON: O children, what a wicked mother Fate gave you!
MEDEA: O sons, your father’s treachery cost you your lives.
JASON: It was not my hand that killed my sons.
MEDEA:No, not your hand;
But your insult to me, and your new-wedded wife.
JASON: You thought that reason enough to murder them, that I
No longer slept with you?
MEDEA:And is that injury
A slight one, do you imagine, to a woman?
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

JASON: O children, what an evil mother you encountered!
MEDEA: O children, how your father’s illness killed you!
JASON: At least it wasn’t my right hand that killed them.
MEDEA: No, your insults and your recent marriage.
JASON: Was it really for sex that you decided to kill them?
MEDEA: Do you think that this is small suffering for a woman?
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

JASON: Children, what an evil mother you got.
MEDEA: Children, how you have perished by your father's fault.
JASON: It was not my hand, you know, that killed them.
MEDEA: No: it was the outrage of your new marriage.
JASON: Did you really think it right to kill them because of a marriage?
MEDEA: Do you imagine that loss of love is a trivial grief for a woman?
[tr. Kovacs (Perseus)]

JASON: Children, what an evil mother you got!
MEDEA: Children, how you have perished by your father's fault!
JASON: It was not my hand, you know, that killed them.
MEDEA: No: it was the outrage of your new marriage.
JASON: Did you really think it right to kill them because of a marriage?
MEDEA: Do you imagine that loss of this is a trivial grief for a woman?
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]

JASON: O children, what a wicked mother you had!
MEDEA: O my sons, how your father's weakness caused your deaths!
JASON: Yet it was no right hand of mine that dealt them ruin!
MEDEA: No, it was your lustful heart and that new marriage of yours.
JASON: What? You decided to kill them because I loved another?
MEDEA: Do you think this is a minor annoyance to a woman?
[tr. Davie (1996)]

JASON: My darling children! What a despicable woman gave birth to you!
MEDEA: My darling children! What a despicable man gave you such a destruction!
JASON: They were not murdered by my hand!
MEDEA: No, what killed them was the shame and your new marriage.
JASON: Was an empty bed a good enough reason for your murders?
MEDEA: Do you think an empty bed is such a small thing for a woman?
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

JASON: Oh children, what a terrible mother you had.
MEDEA: Oh children, how you were destroyed by your father’s disease.
JASON: My right hand did not strike them.
MEDEA: But your abuse and your new marriage.
JASON: You thought the marriage bed was worth your children’s lives?
MEDEA: Do you think this a trivial wrong for a woman?
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

JASON:O my children,
you had such an evil mother!
MEDEA:O my children,
victims of your father’s evil actions!
JASON: At least it was not my hand that killed them.
MEDEA: No. It was an insult — your new marriage.
JASON: Was it right to murder them for that?
MEDEA: Do you think an insult to a woman
is something insignificant?
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

JASON: My children, how kakē is the mother you have found!
MEDEA: My sons, your father’s lust has been your ruin.
JASON: It was not my right hand that slew them.
MEDEA: No, your hubris and your new marriage-bed.
JASON: Did you think that that was reason enough to murder them?
MEDEA: Do you think a woman finds that a tiny pain?
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

JASON: Oh, children, what a wicked mother you had!
MEDEA: Oh, sons, you were ruined by your father's disease.
JASON: It wasn't my right hand that murdered them.
MEDEA: No, it was your insolence, your new-forged marriage.
JASON: You judged it right to kill them for your bed?
MEDEA: You think that pain's a small thing for a woman?
[tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]

Bible, Vol. 1. Old Testament -- Book 22b. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 22:13 (Sir 22:13) [tr. KJV (1611)]

Dave — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:37:12 +0000

Talk not much with a fool, and go not to him that hath no understanding: beware of him, lest thou have trouble, and thou shalt never be defiled with his fooleries: depart from him, and thou shalt find rest, and never be disquieted with madness.

[μετὰ ἄφρονος μὴ πληθύνῃς λόγον
καὶ πρὸς ἀσύνετον μὴ πορεύου·
φύλαξαι ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ κόπον ἔχῃς
καὶ οὐ μὴ μολυνθῇς ἐν τῷ ἐντιναγμῷ αὐτοῦ·
ἔκκλινον ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εὑρήσεις ἀνάπαυσιν
καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀκηδιάσῃς ἐν τῇ ἀπονοίᾳ αὐτοῦ.]

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22b. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 22:13 (Sir 22:13) [tr. KJV (1611)]
(Source)

Some translations note that the Septuagent includes, after the first sentence, e.g., "When people are senseless, they will bring everything of yours to nothing" or "For being without sense he will despise everything about you."

More on the history and acceptance of this Apocryphal book here and here.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Talk not much with a fool, and go not with him that hath no sense.
Keep thyself from him, that thou mayst not have trouble, and thou shalt not be defiled with his sin.
Turn away from him, and thou shalt find rest, and shalt not be wearied out with his folly.
[tr. DRA (1899), 22:14-16]

Do not waste many words on a stupid man,
do not go near a dolt.
Beware of him, or he will give you trouble;
and will leave you soiled by contact with him.
Avoid him, and you will find rest
and not be exasperated by his folly.
[tr. JB (1966)]

Do not waste many words on the stupid,
do not go near a dolt.
Beware of him, or you will have trouble
and be soiled by contact with him;
keep away from him, and you will have peace of mind
and not be exasperated by his folly.
[tr. NJB (1985)]

Don't visit stupid people or spend a lot of time talking with them. Avoid them; then they can't contaminate you, and you can live in peace without being troubled or worn down by their foolishness.
[tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]

Don’t talk a lot with fools,
and don’t go to the unintelligent.
Be on guard against them
so that you don’t have trouble
and don’t get dirty
when they shake themselves off.
Stay away from them
and you will find rest,
and their senselessness
class="tab">won’t make you weary.[tr. CEB (2011)]

Do not talk much with senseless people
or visit unintelligent people.
Stay clear of them, or you may have trouble
and be spattered when they shake themselves off.
Avoid them and you will find rest,
and you will never be wearied by their lack of sense.
[tr. NRSV (2021 ed.)]