WIST Quotations

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1734 ed.)

Dave — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:05:54 +0000

Wedlock, as old Men note, hath likened been,
Unto a publick Crowd or common Rout;
Where those that are without would fain get in,
And those that are within would fain get out.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1734 ed.)

See also Montaigne, Burton, Antrim.

Krutch, Joseph Wood -- Baja California and the Geography of Hope, Introduction (1967)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 19:25:26 +0000

Bad roads act as filters. They separate those who are sufficiently appreciative of what lies beyond the blacktop to be willing to undergo mild inconvenience from that much larger number of travelers which is not willing. The rougher the road, the finer the filter.

Joseph Wood Krutch (1893–1970) American educator, writer, critic, naturalist
Baja California and the Geography of Hope, Introduction (1967)

This was a thought that Krutch adapted and repeated in a number of writings.

In The Forgotten Peninsula, A Naturalist in Baja California, Prologue (1961), Krutch quotes an acquaintance as saying, regarding the peninsula's unspoiled beauty, "Baja is a splendid example of how much bad roads can do for a country." This quotation was often misattributed directly to him, and he adopted the sentiment.

Late in his life (Winter 1967-68), Krutch was interviewed by Edward Abbey for Sage magazine (reprinted in One Life at a Time, Please (1988)), and discussed the proposed development of the new Canyonlands National Park:

Too many people use their automobiles not as a means to get to the parks but rather use the parks as a place to take their automobiles. What our national parks need are not more good roads but more bad roads. [...] There’s nothing like a good bad dirt road to screen out the faintly interested and to invite in the genuinely interested.

Bevan, Nye -- In Place of Fear (1952)

Dave — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 18:27:11 +0000

No society can legitimately call itself civilized if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.

Aneurin "Nye" Bevan (1897–1960) Welsh politician
In Place of Fear (1952)

Bevan was the key politician responsible for the 1946 founding of the UK's National Health Service.

Douglass, Frederick -- “A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston” (9 Dec 1880)

Dave — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 17:15:20 +0000

Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston” (9 Dec 1880)