La promptitude avec laquelle nous croyons le mal, sans l’avoir assez examiné, est un effet de la paresse et de l’orgueil.
 
[The readiness with which we believe evil, without having examined it sufficiently, is an effect of laziness and pride.]

A readiness to believe Ill, before we have duly Examined it, is the Effect of Laziness and Pride. Men are pleased to find Others to Blame and loth to give Themselves the Trouble of Enquiring, how far, and whether they are so, or not.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶268]

A readiness to believe ill without examination is the effect of pride and laziness. We are willing to find people guilty, and unwilling to be at the trouble of examining into the accusation.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶245; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶250]

A willingness to believe ill, without examination, is the effect of pride and idleness. We are ready to suppose guilt, but unwilling to be at the trouble of examining into the accusation.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶214]

Readiness; to believe evil without sufficient examination is the result of pride and indolence. We wish to find people guilty, and we do not wish to give ourselves the trouble of examining into the crimes.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶278]

A quickness in believing evil without having sufficiently examined it, is the effect of pride and laziness. We wish to find the guilty, and we do not wish to trouble ourselves in examining the crime.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶267]

A ready belief of evil without examining the facts is a form of pride, or of indolence. We are anxious to ferret out criminals without taking the pains of examining their crimes.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶275]

Readiness to believe evil without adequate inquiry is the result of pride and indolence. We like detecting criminals, but we dislike the labor of investigating crimes.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶267]

The promptitude with which we will believe evil of others, without an adequate examination of the facts, is an effect of pride working with laziness. We wish to find the guilty men, and cannot be be bothered to study the crime.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶267]

Readiness to believe the worst without adequate examination comes from pride and laziness; we want to find culprits but cannot be bothered to investigate the crimes.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶267]

A readiness to believe evil without sufficient examination, it is an effect both of pride and of idleness. On the one hand, we desire to find other people guilty; and on the other, we do not wish to take the pains necessary to examine their crimes.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶267]

First, though my life is pure from guilt, my name
Is infamous; this ill, this charge of crimes
From which the soul is free, is more severe
Than what from truth arises.
[tr. Potter (1783), l. 304ff]

First of all exposed
To slanderous tongues, although I ne'er have erred.
It were a lesser evil e'en to sin
Than be suspected falsely.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

First indeed, not being unjust, I am in ill repute; and this is a greater evil than the truth, when any one is charged with evils he does not possess.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

First, although I never acted wrongly, my good name is gone. And this trouble is stronger than the reality, if someone incurs blame for wrongs that are not his own.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

First, an ill name, though I am clean of sin;
And worse is this than suffering for just cause,
To bear the burden of sins that are not ours.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]

First, I have lost my name, thought I have done no wrong;
and it is worse than suffering what one deserves
if one must suffer for the things one never did.
[tr. Warner (1951)]

In the first place, though I am innocent, my name is a byword of reproach; and if there is any worse fate than suffering for real crimes, it is suffering for crimes that were never committed.
[tr. Vellacott (1954)]

I have done nothing wrong and yet my reputation
is bad, and worse than a true evil is it to bear
the burden of faults that are not truly yours.
[tr. Lattimore (1956)]

First of all, I am blameless,
and yet I am blamed.
It is easier to bear what belongs to you
than what does not.
[tr. Meagher (1986)]

Firstly, I have done nothing wrong and yet my name is reviled. When someone is punished though innocent of crime, it is a worse affliction than getting his just deserts.
[tr. Davie (2002)]

First, although I never sinned, my good name is gone. And this is a grief beyond the reality, if a man incurs blame for sins that are not his.
[tr. Athenian Society (2006)]

First, I am not wicked, but people think I am.
There's nothing worse than being innocent,
But treated as guilty.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]

To begin with, my good reputation has been destroyed though I have done nothing wrong, and there’s nothing worse than to be burdened by the shame which one has not earned.
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]

First, though I’ve done nothing wrong, my name is loathed.
It’s so much worse to be scorned for things you haven’t done
than to suffer honest charges!
[Ambrose et al. (2018)]

First, although I never acted wrongly, my good name is gone. And this trouble [kakon] is stronger than the truth [alētheia], if someone incurs blame for evils [kaka] that are not his own. [tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]

Immorality is the morality of those who are having a better time.
[Chrestomathy, ch. 30 "Sententiae" (1949)]

We are reveng'd on our selves, and give our Enemies too much advantage over us, when we say things of them which are not true, and lie to reproach 'em.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

'Tis reproaching our selves, and giving our Enemies too much advantage over us, to say things of them which are not true, and lie to disparage them.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

We are vindictive to our own loss, and give the Staff into our Enemies Hands, when we say things of them which are not true, and lie to defame them.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

To say things of our enemies which are not true, and to lie to defame them, is to avenge ourselves on ourselves, and give them too great an advantage over us.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

He, frowning, said: “Dogs, see in me the man
Ye all held dead at Troy. My house it is
That thus ye spoil, and thus your luxuries
File with my women’s rapes; in which ye woo
The wife of one that lives, and no thought show
Of man’s fit fear, or God’s, your present fame,
Or any fair sense of your future name;
And, therefore, present and eternal death
Shall end your base life.”
[tr. Chapman (1616)]

Then said Ulysses, with a sullen eye,
Dogs, dead you thought me, and spent my estate;
With you my woman you compell’d to lie;
And would have wedded, whilst I liv’d, my mate.
No fear you had neither of Gods on high,
Nor of revenge from any mortal man;
But now a vengeance to you all is nigh.
[tr. Hobbes (1675), l. 29ff]

Then, grimly frowning, with a dreadful look,
That wither'd all their hearts, Ulysses spoke:
"Dogs, ye have had your day! ye fear'd no more
Ulysses vengeful from the Trojan shore;
While, to your lust and spoil a guardless prey,
Our house, our wealth, our helpless handmaids lay:
Not so content, with bolder frenzy fired,
E'en to our bed presumptuous you aspired:
Laws or divine or human fail'd to move,
Or shame of men, or dread of gods above;
Heedless alike of infamy or praise,
Or Fame's eternal voice in future days;
The hour of vengeance, wretches, now is come;
Impending fate is yours, and instant doom."
[tr. Pope (1725)]

Then thus Ulysses, louring dark, replied.
O dogs! not fearing aught my safe return
From Ilium, ye have shorn my substance close,
Lain with my women forcibly, and sought,
While yet I lived, to make my consort yours,
Heedless of the inhabitants of heav’n
Alike, and of the just revenge of man.
But death is on the wing; death for you all.
[tr. Cowper (1792), l. 36ff]

Whom the king sternly eyed, and to the godless crew:
"Dogs, ye denied that I should e'er come back
From Troia's people to my native land.
Long in your pride my house ye rend and wrack,
Yea, and ye force the women with violent hand,
And my wife claim while I on earth yet stand,
Nor fear the gods who rule in the wide sky,
Nor lest a mortal on the earth demand
Your price of guilt -- and ye are like to die!
Round you Death's fatal toils inextricably lie."
[tr. Worsley (1861), st. 5-6]

Then with a scowl addressed many-witted Odysseus:
"Ye dogs! ye thought that I should ne'er return
From Troy-land home: and so my house ye harried;
And forced my maids to be your paramours;
And wooed my wife, while I myself was living! --
Ye feared not the gods, who old broad heaven;
Nor reckoned on coming vengeance from mankind!
Now you -- e'en all -- the goal of death is touching!
[tr. Bigge-Wither (1869)]

But, with a grim regard, Ulysses thus
Indignant cried: -- "Ye hounds! Your thought it was
That never more should I, to home restor'd
From Troy return: And therefore all my means
Of Life's subsistence have ye here laid waste --
The handmaids of my household with rude force
Your wont hath been to outrage, and, while I
Myself a living man on earth surviv'd
Ye have as suitors my espoused wife
In marriage sought; the anger of the gods
That rule on high despising, -- and the thought
Of that revenge which, at some future day,
Should overtake you from the hands of men.
A ruin that shall overwhelm you all,
Is now at hand: 'tis here!"
[tr. Musgrave (1869), l. 57ff]

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on them, and spake: “Ye dogs, ye said in your hearts that I should never more come home from the land of the Trojans, in that ye wasted my house, and lay with the maidservants by force, and traitorously wooed my wife while I was yet alive, and ye had no fear of the gods, that hold the wide heaven, nor of the indignation of men hereafter. But now the bands of death have been made fast upon you one and all.”
[tr. Butcher/Lang (1879)]

Unto whom spake the wise Odysseus, scowling from knitted brow:
"O Dogs! And ye were saying that I should come home no more
From the people of the Trojans! So ye wasted my house and my store,
And lay with my women servants perforce and against my will.
And wert wooing my wife from off me when I was living still;
And niether the gods were ye fearing that hold the heavens the wide,
Nor yet the vengeance of menfolk that hereafter should betide.
But now the end of the Death-doom is on you one and all."
[tr. Morris (1887)]

But looking sternly on them wise Odysseus said: "Dogs! You have been saying all the time I never should return out of the land of Troy; and therefore you have destroyed my home, outraged my women-servants, and, -- I alive, -- covertly wooed my wife, fearing no gods that hold the open sky, nor that the indignation of mankind would fall on you hereafter. Now for you one and all destruction's cords are knotted!"
[tr. Palmer (1891)]

But Ulysses glared at them and said: -- "Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy? You have wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you, and have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared neither God nor man, and now you shall die."
[tr. Butler (1898)]

But Odysseus glared at them and said: "Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from the dêmos of the Trojans? You have wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you, and have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared neither the gods nor that there would be future nemesis from men, and now you shall die."
[tr. Butler (1898), rev. Power/Nagy]

But resourceful Odysseus glared at them and said: “Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from the district [dēmos] of the Trojans? You have wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you, and have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared neither the gods nor that there would be future nemesis from men, and now you shall die.”
[tr. Butler (1898), rev. Kim/McCray/Nagy/Power (2018)]

Then with an angry glance from beneath his brows Odysseus of many wiles answered them: “Ye dogs, ye thought that I should never more come home from the land of the Trojans, seeing that ye wasted my house, and lay with the maidservants by force, and while yet I lived covertly wooed my wife, having no fear of the gods, who hold broad heaven, nor of the indignation of men, that is to be hereafter. Now over you one and all have the cords of destruction been made fast.”
[tr. Murray (1919)]

But Odysseus glaring at them cried, "Dogs that you are, you kept harping on your conviction that I would never return from the Troad, and in that strong belief let yourselves ravage my house, ravish my housemaidens and woo my wife, while I was yet alive. You have flouted the Gods of high heaven and the consequent wrath of men: so now you are all trapped in death's toils."
[tr. Lawrence (1932)]

The unconquerable Odysseus looked down on them with a scowl. "You curs!" he cried. "You never thought to see me back from Troy. So you ate me out of house and home; you raped my maids; you wooed my wife on the sly though I was alive -- with no more fear of the gods in heaven than of the human vengeance that might come. I tell you, one and all, your doom is sealed!"
[tr. Rieu (1946)]

But glaring under his brows Odysseus answered:
"You yellow dogs, you thought I'd never make it
home from the land of Troy. You took my house to plunder,
twisted my maids to serve your beds. You dared
bid for my wife while I was still alive.
Contempt was all you had for the gods who rule wide heaven,
contempt for what men say of you hereafter.
Your last hour has come. You die in blood.”
[tr. Fitzgerald (1961)]

But looking darkly upon them resourceful Odysseus answered:
"You dogs, you never thought that I would any more come back
from the land of Troy, and because of that you despoiled my household,
and forcibly took my serving women to sleep beside you,
and sought to win my wife while I was still alive, fearing
neither the immortal gods who hold the wide heaven,
nor any resentment sprung from men to be yours in the future.
Now upon all of you the terms of destruction are fastened."
[tr. Lattimore (1965)]

Odysseus of many wiles glared at them and spoke:
"Dogs, you thought I would no longer come home in return
From the land of the Trojans, in that you wore my house away
And slept alongside my serving women by force
And underhandedly courted my wife while I was myself alive,
And you did not fear the gods who possess broad heaven,
Or that there would be any vengeance of men in time to come.
Now the bonds of destruction are fastened on you all."
[tr. Cook (1967)]

Odysseus scowled:
"You thought I would never return from Troy;
and so -- you dogs -- you sacked my house, you forced
my women servants to your will and wooed
my wife in secret while I was still alive.
You had no fear of the undying gods,
whose home is spacious heaven, and no fear
of men's revenge, your fate in days to come.
Now all of you are trapped in death's tight thongs."
[tr. Mandelbaum (1990)]

With a dark look, the wily fighter Odysseus shouted back,
"You dogs! you never imagined I'd return from Troy --
so cocksure that you bled my house to death,
ravished my serving-women -- wooed my wife
behind my back while 1 was still alive!
No fear of the gods who rule the skies up there,
no fear that men's revenge might arrive someday --
now all your necks are in the noose -- your doom is sealed!"
[tr. Fagles (1996)]

Odysseus
Scowled at the whole lot of them, and said:
"You dogs! You thought I would never
Come home from Troy. So you wasted my house,
Forced the women to sleep with you,
And while I was still alive you courted my wife
Without any fear of the gods in high heaven
Or of any retribution from the world of men.
Now the net has been drawn tight around you."
[tr. Lombardo (2000)]

Looking from lowering brows said Odysseus of many devices:
"Oh you dogs, you believed I would have no return and would not come
home from the land of the Trojans, and so you have pillaged my household;
so you have taken to bed by force those women, the handmaids;
so though I was alive my wife you illicitly courted;
neither the gods you feared, the immortals who hold the broad heaven,
nor any vengeance that men might bring upon you in the future.
Now on all of you suitors the grim death bindings are fastened!"
[tr. Merrill (2002)]

The master-strategist Odysseus gave them a black look. "You dogs!" he cried. "You never thought to see me back from Troy. So you fleeced my household; you raped my maids; you courted my wife behind my back though I was alive -- with no more fear of the gods in heaven than of the human vengeance that might come. One and all, your fate is sealed."
[tr. DCH Rieu (2002)]

Looking at them darkly Odysseus of many wiles spoke: "You dogs! You never expected me to return home, back from the land of the Trojans; and so you plundered my house, you brutally forced my women servants to sleep with you, and you courted my wife in stealth while I was still alive, with no fear of the gods who inhabit the broad high sky, nor that the vengeful anger of men would one day follow. Now on every one of you death's ropes are fastened tight."
[tr. Verity (2016)]

Then, with an angry glance, resourceful Odysseus replied:
"You dogs, you thought that I'd never come home again
from the Trojans' land, the way you ravaged my house,
and forcibly bedded my women servants, and while
I was still alive, underhandedly courted my wife,
with no fear of the gods who own broad heaven,
or of any human reproof that might come hereafter!
Now over you all the bonds of destruction are set!"
[tr. Green (2018)]

Odysseus cried out: You thought I'd never return! You devoured my goods, seduced my maidservants, and came courting my wife while I was still alive! Now your fate's certain!
[tr. Green (2018), summary]

Shrewd Odysseus scowled at them
and gave his answer: “You dogs, because you thought
I’d not come back from Troy to my own home,
you’ve been ravaging my house, raping women,
and, in devious ways, wooing my wife,
while I was still alive, with no fear of gods
who hold wide heaven, or of any man
who might take his revenge in days to come.
And now a fatal snare has caught you all.”
[tr. Johnston (2019), l. 41ff]

• "Hope not to reform him; for if you pardon him now what assurance have you that he will not against betray your interests in the future?" [tr. Garland (1902)]
• "For you must assume, by Heracles, that there will be no improvement in him if he is pardoned by you now, and that in future he will not abstain from taking bribes against you if you now acquit him." [tr. Burtt (1962)]
]]> https://wist.info/dinarchus/40729/feed/ 0 40729 https://wist.info/ennius/40380/ https://wist.info/ennius/40380/#respond Thu, 30 Jan 2020 17:38:24 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=40380 Your minds that once did stand erect and strong,
What madness swerves them from their wonted course?
 
[Quo vobis mentes, rectae quae stare solebant
antehac, dementis sese flexere viai?]

Ennius (239-169 BC) Roman poet, writer [Quintus Ennius]
Annals, Book 6, frag. 11 [tr. Falconer (1923)]
    (Source)

Setting the words of Appius Claudius to verse, when Appius in his old age berated the Senate for considering peace and alliance with King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who had defeated them (in a "Pyrhhic victory") at Heraclea (280 BC). Fragment recorded in Cicero, De Senectute, ch. 6 / sec. 16 (4.16) (44 BC).

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:



Why seid Appius haue ye inclyned and revaled youre couragious hertys whiche til nowe were accustumyd to be ferme and stidfast. Be ye madd or for lak of discressyon agree ye for to condescend and desyre ye to make alliance and peas with kyng Pirrus bycause that he putteth in strength for to putt you downe and in subjection and wolde destroye yowe?
[tr. Worcester/Worcester/Scrope (1481)]




Why do your wits
And senses so rave?
What foolish conceit
Doth encumber your brain?
Where be the ripe judgments,
Which wont you were to have,
To agree to your country's
Ruin most plain?
[tr. Newton (1569)]




Whether now bend your minds, a headlong fall to bring,
Which heretofore had wont to stand, as straight as any thing.
[tr. Austin (1648)]




Whither now do you bend your Thoughts
Which, heretofore, were firm and resolute,
What! madly on your Ruin. ? --
[tr. J. D. (1744)]




What Frenzy now has your wild Minds possest?
You, who were first with sagest Counsels blest,
Your selves on sure Destruction thus to throw!
[tr. Logan (1744)]




Shall folly now that honoured Council sway,
Where sacred wisdom wont to point the way!
[tr. Melmoth (1773)]




Ah! wither have your minds demented turned themselves, wich heretofore were wont to stand erect?
[Cornish Bros. ed. (1847)]




Whither have your minds, which used to stand upright before, in folly turned away?
[tr. Edmonds (1874)]




Wont to stand firm, upon what devious way
Demented rush ye now?
[tr. Peabody (1884)]




Whither have swerved the souls so firm of yore?
Is sense grown senseless? Can feet stand no more?
[tr. Shuckburgh (1895)]




Where are the minds that used to stand serene,
where is the bravery that once has been?
[tr. Allison (1916)]




What is this madness that has turned your minds, until now firm and strong, from their course?
[tr. Grant (1960, 1971 ed.)]




Where are your minds? They always stood up straight till now! Are you mad? Where did you miss the road?
[tr. Copley (1967)]




Up until now your minds were straight and firm.
What bends them now onto this foolish path?
[tr. Cobbold (2012)]




How on earth could your mind
Once upright and dignified
Take a downturn and backslide?
[tr. Bozzi (2015)]




What madness has turned your minds, once firm and strong, from their course?
[tr. Freeman (2016)]


]]> https://wist.info/ennius/40380/feed/ 0 40380 https://wist.info/fielding-henry/37189/ https://wist.info/fielding-henry/37189/#respond Fri, 09 Jun 2017 04:15:55 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37189 Guilt hath very quick ears to an accusation.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
Amelia, ch. 11 (1751)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/fielding-henry/37189/feed/ 0 37189 https://wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/37175/ https://wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/37175/#respond Wed, 07 Jun 2017 00:49:23 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37175 Even doubtful Accusations leave a Stain behind them.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 1395 (1732)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/37175/feed/ 0 37175 https://wist.info/halifax-savile-george/35850/ https://wist.info/halifax-savile-george/35850/#respond Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:45:06 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=35850 A wise Man will keep his Suspicions muzzled, but he will keep them awake.

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695) English politician and essayist
“Of Caution and Suspicion,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/halifax-savile-george/35850/feed/ 0 35850 https://wist.info/wilde-oscar/33098/ https://wist.info/wilde-oscar/33098/#respond Mon, 28 Mar 2016 14:10:15 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33098 There is luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.




Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 8 (1891)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/wilde-oscar/33098/feed/ 0 33098 https://wist.info/mencken-hl/32925/ https://wist.info/mencken-hl/32925/#respond Tue, 08 Mar 2016 14:38:47 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32925 The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true desserts. He ascribes all his failure to get on in the world, all of his congenital incapacity and damnfoolishness, to the machinations of werewolves assembled in Wall Street, or some other such den of infamy. If these villains could be put down, he holds, he would at once become rich, powerful and eminent. Nine politicians out of every ten, of whatever party, live and have their being by promising to perform
this putting down. In brief, they are knaves who maintain themselves by preying on the idiotic vanities and pathetic hopes of half-wits.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
Baltimore Evening Sun (15 Jun 1936) ]]> https://wist.info/mencken-hl/32925/feed/ 0 32925 https://wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/32572/ https://wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/32572/#respond Tue, 09 Feb 2016 14:50:28 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32572 Those see nothing but Faults that seek for nothing else.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 5021 (1732)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/32572/feed/ 0 32572 https://wist.info/coleridge-samuel-taylor/32226/ https://wist.info/coleridge-samuel-taylor/32226/#respond Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:05:11 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32226 Experience informs us that the first defense of weak minds is to recriminate.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) English poet and critic
Biographia Literaria (1817) ]]> https://wist.info/coleridge-samuel-taylor/32226/feed/ 0 32226 https://wist.info/chaucer-geoffrey/31311/ https://wist.info/chaucer-geoffrey/31311/#respond Mon, 09 Nov 2015 15:28:02 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=31311 The guilty think all talk is of themselves.

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400) English poet, philosopher, astronomer, diplomat
The Canterbury Tales, “The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue” (1390?) [tr. Coghill (1951)] ]]> https://wist.info/chaucer-geoffrey/31311/feed/ 0 31311 https://wist.info/chesterfield-lord/28608/ https://wist.info/chesterfield-lord/28608/#respond Mon, 16 Mar 2015 12:01:46 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28608 People in general will much better bear being told of their vices or crimes than of their little failings or weaknesses.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #204 (26 Nov 1749)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/chesterfield-lord/28608/feed/ 0 28608 https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/28402/ https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/28402/#respond Thu, 26 Feb 2015 16:43:04 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28402 Like many men of genius, he could not understand why things obvious to him should not be so at once to other people, and found it easier to believe that they were corrupt than that they could be so stupid.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
The Apple Cart, Preface (1928) ]]> https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/28402/feed/ 0 28402 https://wist.info/saadi/26987/ https://wist.info/saadi/26987/#respond Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:06:33 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=26987 I complained before a learned man that someone had accused me of corruption. He said, “Put him to shame by your good conduct.”

Sa'adi (1184-1283/1291?) Persian poet [a.k.a. Sa'di, Moslih Eddin Sa'adi, Mushrif-ud-Din Abdullah, Muslih-ud-Din Mushrif ibn Abdullah, Mosleh al-Din Saadi Shirazi, Shaikh Mosslehedin Saadi Shirazi]
The Maxims of Sa’di, 7 [tr. Nakosteen (1977)] ]]> https://wist.info/saadi/26987/feed/ 0 26987 https://wist.info/jonson-ben/20437/ https://wist.info/jonson-ben/20437/#respond Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:53:29 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=20437 Sir, calumnies are answer’d best with silence.

Ben Jonson (1572-1637) English playwright and poet
Volpone, Act 2, sc. 2 (1606)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/jonson-ben/20437/feed/ 0 20437 https://wist.info/barrie-james/16382/ https://wist.info/barrie-james/16382/#respond Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:44:10 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16382 Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Speech (1922-05-03), “Courage,” Rectoral Address, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/barrie-james/16382/feed/ 0 16382 https://wist.info/lippmann-walter/14223/ https://wist.info/lippmann-walter/14223/#respond Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:17:45 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=14223 There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and shame the devil.

Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) American journalist and author
“Journalism and the Higher Law,” Liberty and the News (1920)
    (Source)

See Rabelais. ]]> https://wist.info/lippmann-walter/14223/feed/ 0 14223 https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/8141/ https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/8141/#respond Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:36:52 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=8141 OSWALD: Why dost thou use me thus? I know thee not.

KENT: Fellow, I know thee.

OSWALD: What dost thou know me for?

KENT: A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition.


William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 11ff (2.2.11-24) (1606)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/8141/feed/ 0 8141 https://wist.info/camus-albert/6729/ https://wist.info/camus-albert/6729/#respond Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:20:56 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=6729 We are all exceptional cases. We all want to appeal against something! Each of us insists on being innocent at all cost, even if has to accuse the whole human race and heaven itself!

Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
The Fall (1956) [tr. J. O’Brien] ]]> https://wist.info/camus-albert/6729/feed/ 0 6729 https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/6724/ https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/6724/#respond Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:44:27 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=6724 HAMLET: Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 147ff (3.1.147-148) (c. 1600)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/6724/feed/ 0 6724 https://wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/6327/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/6327/#respond Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:51:34 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=6327 The day I’m afraid to sit down with people I do not know because five years from now someone will say five of those people were Communists and therefore you are a Communist — that will be a bad day.
I want to be able to sit down with anyone who may have a new idea and not be afraid of contamination by association. In a democracy you must be able to meet with people and argue your point of view — people whom you have not screened beforehand. That must be part of the freedom of people in the United States.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Speech (1950-04-02), Americans for Democratic Action
    (Source)

On the rise of McCarthyism in the US. ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/6327/feed/ 0 6327 https://wist.info/rabelais-francois/5295/ https://wist.info/rabelais-francois/5295/#respond Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:59:37 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=5295 Speak the truth and shame the Devil.

François Rabelais (1494-1553) French writer, humanist, doctor
Le Quart-Livre des faicts et dicts héroïques du bon Pantagruel, Prolog (1552) ]]> https://wist.info/rabelais-francois/5295/feed/ 0 5295 https://wist.info/horace/1963/ https://wist.info/horace/1963/#comments Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=1963 Why laugh? Change but the name, and the tale is told of you.
 
[Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te
fabula narratur.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 1 “Qui fit, Mæcenas,” l. 68ff (1.1.68-69) (35 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]
    (Source)

After the Miser scoffs at the story of Tantalus.

Latin sometimes given as "... fabula de te narratur."

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:



Takynge but his name,
This tale maye well be toulde of the, thou arte the veray same.
[tr. Drant (1567)]




Do you but change the name
Of you is saide the same.
[tr. Florio (1603): Montaigne, Essays, Preface]




Why laughst thou Miser? if thy name should be
A little chang'd, the Fables told of thee.
[tr. A. B.; ed. Brome (1666)]




What dost Thou laugh? and think that Thou art
Fool change the Name, the Story's told of Thee.
[tr. Creech (1684)]




Wherefore do you laugh?
Change but the name, of thee the tale is told.
[tr. Francis (1747)]




You smile, as if the story were not true!
Change but the name, and it applies to you.
[tr. Howes (1845)]




Why do you laugh? The name changed, the tale is told of you.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]




Well, why that laugh? but change the name, and the then the story's told of you.
[tr. Millington (1870)]




Laughing, are you? why?
Change but the name, of you the tale is told.
[tr. Conington (1874)]




You laugh? Well, just change the name and you'll find that this story,
as a matter of fact, means YOU.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]




What's so funny? Change the name and it's you
the myth's about.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]




You laugh? Change
The name, and it's your story too!
[tr. Raffel (1983)]




Why laugh? Change the name of the fable
and it applies to you.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]




What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke's on you.
[Source (2002)]




You laugh? Change but
the names and this old story's about you.
[tr. Matthews (2002)]




What are you laughing at? Change the name and you're the subject
of the story.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]




Why do you mock him? Alter a name and the same tale
Is told of you.
[tr. Kline (2015)]


]]> https://wist.info/horace/1963/feed/ 3 1963 https://wist.info/bible-nt/4570/ https://wist.info/bible-nt/4570/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=4570 Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.

[Ὁ ἀναμάρτητος ὑμῶν πρῶτος ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν βαλέτω λίθον.]


The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
John 8: 7 (Jesus) [CEB (2011)]
    (Source)

Origin of the English phrase "cast the first stone." Said to the accusers of the adulterous woman in the Pericope Adulterae. Most scholars agree this parable was not in the original versions of John's Gospel, but an oral tradition added afterward.

No Synoptic parallels.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:



He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
[KJV (1611)]




If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.
[JB (1966)]




Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her.
[NJB (1985)]




Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]




Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]


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