One of the men I loved most above all others was Gene Fowler. He once wrote me a letter from London. “What is success?" he asked. “I shall tell you out of the wisdom of my years. It is a toy balloon among children armed with sharp pins."

To love or to have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life. To love is a consummation.
[tr. Wilbour (1862); tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

To love or to have loved is sufficient; ask nothing more after that. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life, for love is a consummation.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

To love, or to have loved, -- this suffices. Demand nothing more. There is no other pearl to be found in the shadowy folds of life. To love is a fulfilment.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

To love or to have loved is all-sufficing. We must not ask for more. No other pearl is to be found in the shadowed folds of life. To love is an accomplishment.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

Then came strange arts, fierce labor all subdues.
Inforc'd by bold Necessity, and Want.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

And various Arts in order did succeed,
(What cannot endless Labour urg'd by need?)
[tr. Dryden (1709), ll. 217-218]

Thus by long labour arts to arts succeed,
Such is the force of all-compelling need.
[tr. Nevile (1767)]

Thus rous'd by varied wants new arts arose,
And strenuous Labour triumph'd at its close.
[tr. Sotheby (1800)]

Then various arts ensued. Incessant labour and want, in hardships pressing, surmounted every obstacle.
[tr. Davidson (1854)]

Then came the various arts: oh, grand success
Of reckless toil and resolute distress!
[tr. Blackmore (1871)]

Then came the various arts of life. So toil, relentless toil, and the pressure of want in adversity, conquered the world. [tr. Wilkins (1873)]

Then divers arts arose; toil conquered all,
Remorseless toil, and poverty's shrewd push
In times of hardship.
[tr. Rhoades (1881)]

Thus stern Necessity inventive tried
Fresh arts, which life’s increasing wants supplied.
[tr. King (1882)]

Then various arts followed. Unwearying labor overcame every difficulty, and want spurring men on in times of hardship.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]

Then arts many in sort; nothing but yielded to unrelenting toil and the hard pressure of poverty.
[tr. Mackail (1899)]

Then divers arts arose; toil conquered all,
Remorseless toil, and poverty's shrewd push
In times of hardship.
[tr. Greenough (1900)]

Then followed manifold arts: unflinching toil ever one
Triumphs: in hardship's school stern need still drave men on.
[tr. Way (1912)]

Then later times
Brought forth of other arts the varied skill.
Work conquered all, relentless, obstinate,
While poverty and hardship urged it on.
[tr. Williams (1915)]

Then numerous arts arose. Yes, unremitting labour
And harsh necessity's hand will master anything.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1940)]

Then followed all the civilizing arts:
Hard labor conquered all, and pinching need.
[tr. Bovie (1956)]

Then all kinds of skills came into being. Toil has overcome all things, runious toil and need, pressing in harsh circumstances.
[tr. Miles (1980)]

And last the various arts.
Toil mastered everything, relentless toil
And the pressure of pinching poverty.
[tr. Wilkinson (1982)]

Then came the various arts. Hard labour conquered all,
and poverty’s oppression in harsh times.
[tr. Kline (2001)] https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilGeorgicsI.php#anchor_Toc533589845:~:text=then%20came%20the,in%20harsh%20times.

Then came the arts in many guises. Relentless work conquered
all difficulties -- work and urgent need when times were hard.
[tr. Lembke (2004)]

All this before the knowledge and know-how which ensued. Hard work prevailed, hard work and pressing poverty.
[tr. Fallon (2006)]

And then myriad arts. Toil subdued the earth, relentless toil, and the prick of dearth in hardship.
[tr. Johnson (2009)]

Then followed other arts; and everything
Was toil, relentless toil, urged on by need.
[tr. Ferry (2015)]

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty. To find the best in others; to give one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exaltation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- this is to have succeeded.

• He Has Achieved Success Who Has Lived Well, Laughed Often and Loved Much – Quote Investigator
• Stanley, Bessie A. - "Success" (1905) | WIST ]]> https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/46825/feed/ 1 46825 https://wist.info/peterson-wilferd-a/46809/ https://wist.info/peterson-wilferd-a/46809/#respond Mon, 03 May 2021 16:35:20 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46809 Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.
  
  Wilferd A. Peterson (1900-1995) American writer, magazine editor
  “The Art of Happiness,” This Week Magazine (1961-02-04)
      (Source)
  
  Collected in The Art of Living (1961).
  
  Almost universally credited, without citation, to Theodore Isaac Rubin, but I've been unable to find the phrase in Rubin's works or credited to him earlier than Peterson's essay. ]]> https://wist.info/peterson-wilferd-a/46809/feed/ 0 46809 https://wist.info/sophocles/46782/ https://wist.info/sophocles/46782/#respond Thu, 29 Apr 2021 17:27:40 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46782 And speech he has learned, and thought
  So swift, and the temper of mind
  To dwell within cities, and not to lie bare
  Amid the keen, biting frosts
  Or cower beneath pelting rain;
  Full of resource against all that comes to him
  is Man. Against Death alone
  He is left with no defence.

  [καὶ φθέγμα καὶ ἀνεμόεν φρόνημα καὶ ἀστυνόμους
  ὀργὰς ἐδιδάξατο καὶ δυσαύλων
  πάγων ὑπαίθρεια καὶ δύσομβρα φεύγειν βέλη
  παντοπόρος: ἄπορος ἐπ᾽ οὐδὲν ἔρχεται
  τὸ μέλλον: Ἅιδα μόνον φεῦξιν οὐκ ἐπάξεται.]

  
  Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
  Antigone, l. 354ff, Stasimon 1, Strophe 2 [Chorus] (441 BC) [tr. Kitto (1962)]
      (Source)
  
  Original Greek. Alternate translations:
  
  

  Language and lofty thought,
  And dispositions meet for order'd cities,
  These he hath taught himself; -- and how to shun
  The shafts of comfortless winter, --
  Both those which smite when the sky is clear,
  And those which fall in showers; --
  with plans for all things,
  Planless in nothing, meets he the future!
  Of death alone the avoidance
  No foreign aid will bring.
  [tr. Donaldson (1848)]

  
  

  Speech and the wind-swift speed of counsel and civic wit,
  He hath learnt for himself all these; and the arrowy rain to fly
  And the nipping airs that freeze, 'neath the open winter sky.
  He hath provision for all: fell plague he hath learnt to endure;
  Safe whate'er may befall: yet for death he hath found no cure.
  [tr. Storr (1859)]

  
  

  Wise utterance and wind-swift thought, and city-moulding mind,
  And shelter from the clear-eyed power of biting frost,
  He hath taught him, and to shun the sharp, roof-penetrating rain, --
  Full of resource, without device he meets no coming time;
  From Death alone he shall not find reprieve;
  No league may gain him that relief.
  [tr. Campbell (1873)]

  
  

  Speech and thought fast as the wind and the moods that give order to a city he has taught himself, and how to flee the arrows of the inhospitable frost under clear skies and the arrows of the storming rain. He has resource for everything. Lacking resource in nothing he strides towards what must come. From Death alone he shall procure no escape.
  [tr. Jebb (1891)]

  
  

  And speech, and wind-swift thought, and all the moods that mould a state, hath he taught himself; and how to flee the arrows of the frost, when 'tis hard lodging under the clear sky, and the arrows of the rushing rain; yea, he hath resource for all; without resource he meets nothing that must come: only against Death shall he call for aid in vain.
  [tr. Jebb (1917)]

  
  

  Words also, and thought as rapid as air,
  He fashions to his good use; statecraft is his,
  And his the skill that deflects the arrows of snow,
  The spears of winter rain: from every wind
  He has made himself secure -- from all but one:
  In the late wind of death he cannot stand.
  [tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939)]

  
  

  The use of language, the wind-swift motion of brain
  He learnt; found out the laws of living together
  In cities, building him shelter against the rain
  And wintry weather.
  There is nothing beyond his power. His subtlety
  Meeteth all chance, all danger conquereth.
  For every ill he hath found its remedy,
  Save only death.
  [tr. Watling (1947), l. 295ff]

  
  

  Language, and thought like the wind
  and the feelings that make the town,
  he has taught himself, and shelter against the cold,
  refuge from rain. He can always help himself.
  He faces no future helpless. There's only death
  that he cannot find an escape from.
  [tr. Wyckoff (1954)]

  
  

  And speech and thought, quick as the wind
  and the mood and mind for law that rules the city --
  all these he has taught himself
  and shelter from the arrows of the frost
  when there's rough lodging under the cold clear sky
  and the shafts of lashing rain --
  ready, resourceful man!
  Never without resources
  never an impasse as he marches on the future --
  only Death, from Death alone he will find no rescue.
  [tr. Fagles (1982)]

  
  

  Language and a mind swift as the wind
  For making plans --
  These he has taught himself --
  And the character to live in cities under law.
  He's learned to take cover from a frost
  And escape sharp arrows of sleet.
  He has the means to handle every need,
  Never steps toward the future without the means.
  Except for Death: He's got no relief from that.
  [tr. Woodruff (2001)]

  
  

  Both language and thought swift as wind
  and impulses that govern cities,
  he has taught himself, as well as how
  to escape the shafts of rain
  while encamped beneath open skies.
  All resourceful, he approaches no future thing
  to come without resource. From Hades alone
  he will not contrive escape.
  [tr. Tyrell/Bennett (2002)]

  
  

  And man has learnt speech and thought, swifter than the wind he mastered
  And learnt to govern his cities well
  And this omniscient being has learnt how to avoid the blasts of the wild open air: the arrows of the freezing night, the dreadful wind driven piercing gale!
  He’s prepared for all events bar Death and from Death he can find no escape.
  [tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

  
  

  He’s taught himself speech and wind-swift thought,
  trained his feelings for communal civic life,
  learning to escape the icy shafts of frost,
  volleys of pelting rain in winter storms,
  the harsh life lived under the open sky.
  That’s man -- so resourceful in all he does.
  There’s no event his skill cannot confront --
  other than death -- that alone he cannot shun.
  [tr. Johnston (2005), l. 405ff]

  
  

  He taught himself language and wind-like thought and city-ruling urges, how to flee the slings of frost under winter's clear sky and the arrows of stormy rain, ever-resourceful. Against no possibility is he at a loss. For death alone he finds no aid.
  [tr. Thomas (2005)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/sophocles/46782/feed/ 0 46782 https://wist.info/bell-daniel/46281/ https://wist.info/bell-daniel/46281/#respond Mon, 22 Mar 2021 14:28:49 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46281 Economics is the art of allocating scarce goods among competing demands. The conceit of Marxism was the thought that in Communism, economics would be “abolished”; this was why one did not have to think about the questions of relative privilege and social justice. But the point is that we still have to think about economics, and probably always will. The question, then, is whether we can arrive at a set of normative rules which seek to protect liberty, reward achievement and enhance the social good, within the constraints of “economics”.
  
  Daniel Bell (1919-2011) American sociologist, writer, editor, academic
  The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976) ]]> https://wist.info/bell-daniel/46281/feed/ 0 46281 https://wist.info/camus-albert/43954/ https://wist.info/camus-albert/43954/#respond Thu, 29 Oct 2020 17:31:26 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43954 Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement.
  
  Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
  The Fall [La Chute] (1956)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/camus-albert/43954/feed/ 0 43954 https://wist.info/homer/43366/ https://wist.info/homer/43366/#respond Wed, 23 Sep 2020 20:26:22 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43366 He sent me off to Troy …
  And I hear his urgings ringing in my ears:
  “Always be the best, my boy, the bravest,
  and hold your head up high above the others.
  Never disgrace the generation of your fathers.
  They were the bravest champions born in Corinth,
  In Lycia far and wide.
  
  Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
  The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 6, l. 245ff (6.245-251) (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990)]
  
  This is the first appearance of the Greek "Αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν καὶ ὑπείροχον ἔμμεναι ἄλλων" ["Always strive for excellence and prevail over others"] in the Illiad, Glaucus telling of his father's command to him. Peleus urges Achilles with the same words in Book 11. The two passages are sometimes confused.
  
  Alt. trans.:
  
  

  By his decree I sought the Trojan town,
  By his instructions learn to win renown;
  To stand the first in worth as in command,
  To add new honours to my native land;
  Before my eyes my mighty sires to place,
  And emulate the glories of our race."
  [tr. Pope (1715-20)]

  
  
  

  He sent me forth
  To fight for Troy, charging me much and oft
  That I should outstrip always all mankind
  In worth and valor, nor the house disgrace
  Of my forefathers, heroes without peer
  In Ephyra, and in Lycia’s wide domain.
  [tr. Cowper (1791), l. 254ff]

  
  

  Me he sent to Troy, and gave me very many commands, always to fight bravely, and to be superior to others; and not to disgrace the race of my fathers, who were by far the bravest in Ephyra, and ample Lycia.
  [tr. Buckley (1860)]

  
  

  To Troy he sent me, and enjoin'd me oft
  To aim at highest honours, and surpass
  My comrades all; nor on my father's name
  Discredit bring, who held the foremost place
  In Ephyre, and Lycia's wide domain.
  [tr. Derby (1864), ll. 245-249]

  
  
  

  He sent me to Troy and bade me very instantly to be ever the best and to excel all other men, nor put to shame the lineage of my fathers that were of noblest blood in Ephyre and in wide Lykia.
  [tr. Leaf/Lang/Myers (1891)]

  
  

  When he sent me to Troy he urged me again and again to fight ever among the foremost and outvie my peers, so as not to shame the blood of my fathers who were the noblest in Ephyra and in all Lycia.
  [tr. Butler (1898)]

  
  
  

  He sent me to Troy and straitly charged me ever to be bravest and pre-eminent above all, and not bring shame upon the race of my fathers, that were far the noblest in Ephyre and in wide Lycia.
  [tr. Murray (1924)]

  
  
  

  He sent me here to Troy, commanding me to act always with valour, always to be the most noble, never to shame the line of my progenitors, great men first in Ephyra, then in Lycia.
  [tr. Fitzgerald (1974)]

  
  
  ]]> https://wist.info/homer/43366/feed/ 0 43366 https://wist.info/martin-judith/42365/ https://wist.info/martin-judith/42365/#respond Mon, 06 Jul 2020 19:35:55 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42365 In artful boasting, one states all the information necessary to impress people, but keeps the facts decently clothed in the language of humility. Useful approaches include Disbelief, Fear and Manic Elation. For some reason, these are considered to be more attractive human emotions than justifiable pride or self-satisfaction. Probably because they are not as much fun.
  
  Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
  “Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1979-11-24)
      (Source)
  
  Collected in Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 "Basic Civilization," "Social Intercourse" (1983). ]]> https://wist.info/martin-judith/42365/feed/ 0 42365 https://wist.info/ackerman-diane/42121/ https://wist.info/ackerman-diane/42121/#respond Fri, 12 Jun 2020 22:44:14 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42121 The brain is only three pounds of blood, dream, and electricity, and yet from that mortal stew come Beethoven’s sonatas. Dizzy Gillespie’s jazz. Audrey Hepburn’s wish to spend the last month of her life in Somalia, saving children.
  
  Diane Ackerman (b. 1948) American poet, author, naturalist
  A Natural History of Love, “Brain-Stem Sonata: The Neurophysiology of Love” (1994)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/ackerman-diane/42121/feed/ 0 42121 https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/41761/ https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/41761/#respond Mon, 18 May 2020 15:43:48 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41761 If I should labor through daylight and dark,
  Consecrate, valorous, serious, true,
  Then on the world I may blazon my mark;
  And what if I don’t, and what if I do?
  
  Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) American writer, poet, wit
  “Philosophy,” Enough Rope (1926)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/41761/feed/ 0 41761 https://wist.info/martin-edward-sandford/41476/ https://wist.info/martin-edward-sandford/41476/#respond Fri, 24 Apr 2020 20:07:18 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41476 After all, the saddest thing that can happen to a man is to carry no burden. To be bent under too great a load is bad; to be crushed by it is lamentable, but even in that there are possibilities that are glorious. But to carry no load at all — there is nothing in that. No one seems to arrive at any goal really worth reaching in this world who does not come to it heavy laden.
  
  Edward Sandford Martin (1856-1939) American writer and editor
  In a New Century, ch. 21 “Deafness” (1903)
  
  Quoted by Theodore Roosevelt, Speech, New York State Agricultural Association, Syracuse (7 Sep 1903). ]]> https://wist.info/martin-edward-sandford/41476/feed/ 0 41476 https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/41346/ https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/41346/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2020 19:42:04 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41346 Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.
  
  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
  Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3
      (Source)
  
  Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03). ]]> https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/41346/feed/ 0 41346 https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/41324/ https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/41324/#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2020 16:03:40 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41324 If I didn’t care for fun and such,
  I’d probably amount to much.
  But I shall stay the way I am,
  Because I do not give a damn.
  
  Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) American writer, poet, wit
  “Observation,” New York World (16 Aug 1925) ]]> https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/41324/feed/ 1 41324 https://wist.info/thurber-james/41316/ https://wist.info/thurber-james/41316/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2020 15:29:41 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41316 Art — the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised.

  

  
  James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
  Forum and Century (Jun 1939)
  
  Also quoted in Clifton Fadiman, I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Certain Eminent Men and Women of Our Time (1939). ]]> https://wist.info/thurber-james/41316/feed/ 0 41316 https://wist.info/macaulay-thomas-babington/40754/ https://wist.info/macaulay-thomas-babington/40754/#respond Thu, 20 Feb 2020 16:03:23 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=40754 His imagination resembled the wings of an ostrich. It enabled him to run, though not to soar. When he attempted the highest flights, he became ridiculous; but, while he remained in a lower region, he outstripped all competitors.
  
  Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
  Essay (1828-01/05), “John Dryden,” Edinburgh Review No. 93, Art. 1
      (Source)
  
  A review of John Dryden, The Political Works of John Dryden (1826). Collected in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 1 (1860). ]]> https://wist.info/macaulay-thomas-babington/40754/feed/ 0 40754 https://wist.info/hepburn-audrey/40196/ https://wist.info/hepburn-audrey/40196/#respond Tue, 21 Jan 2020 18:31:13 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=40196 Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you’re exactly the same.
  
  Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) Belgian-English actress
  Quoted in Yann-Brice Dherbier and Pierre-Henri Verlhac, Audrey Hepburn : A Life in Pictures (2007) ]]> https://wist.info/hepburn-audrey/40196/feed/ 0 40196 https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/39507/ https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/39507/#respond Sun, 09 Jun 2019 23:40:59 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=39507 Every man is in some sort a failure to himself. No one ever reaches the heights to which he aspires.
  
  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
  “Table-Talk”
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/39507/feed/ 0 39507 https://wist.info/overbury-thomas/38932/ https://wist.info/overbury-thomas/38932/#respond Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:35:53 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38932 The man who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious ancestry, is somewhat like a potatoe, the only good thing is under ground.
  
  Thomas Overbury (1581-1613) English poet
  Characters (1612)
      (Source)
  
  Referenced in John Ireland, Letters and Poems by the Late Mr. John Henderson (1786). Variant: "The man who has not anything to boast of but his illustrious ancestors, is like a potatoe, the only good belonging to him is under ground." -- The Lady's Monthly Museum (June 1807). ]]> https://wist.info/overbury-thomas/38932/feed/ 0 38932 https://wist.info/gaiman-neil/38934/ https://wist.info/gaiman-neil/38934/#respond Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:34:41 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38934 Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.
  On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”
  And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”
  And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.
  
  Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
  Blog entry (2017-05-12)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/gaiman-neil/38934/feed/ 0 38934 https://wist.info/de-botton-alain/38548/ https://wist.info/de-botton-alain/38548/#respond Thu, 05 Apr 2018 22:57:01 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38548 A virtuous, ordinary life, striving for wisdom but never far from folly, is achievement enough.

  

  
  Alain de Botton (b. 1969) Swiss-British author
  The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 4 “Consolation for Inadequacy” (2000)
      (Source)
  
  Summarizing Montaigne. ]]> https://wist.info/de-botton-alain/38548/feed/ 0 38548 https://wist.info/gaiman-neil/38405/ https://wist.info/gaiman-neil/38405/#respond Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:50:26 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38405 May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

  

  
  Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
  Blog entry (2001-12-31), “As I Was Saying”
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/gaiman-neil/38405/feed/ 0 38405 https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/37199/ https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/37199/#respond Mon, 12 Jun 2017 17:18:50 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37199 Man can climb to the highest summits; but he cannot dwell there long.

  

  
  George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
  Candida, Act 3 (1898)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/37199/feed/ 0 37199 https://wist.info/naylor-james-ball/36035/ https://wist.info/naylor-james-ball/36035/#respond Tue, 24 Jan 2017 15:03:03 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36035 When all is said and all is done,
  When all is lost or all is won —
  In spite of musty theory,
  Of purblind faith and vain conceit,
  Of barren creed and sophistry:
  In spite of all — success, defeat,
  The Judge accords to worst and best,
  Impartially, this final test:
  What hast thou done with brawn and brain,
  To help the world to lose or gain
  An onward step? Canst reckon one
  Unselfish, brave or noble deed,
  That thou — nor counting cost! Hast done
  To help a brother’s crying need?
  Not what professed nor what believed —
  But what good thing hast thou achieved?
  
  James Ball Naylor (1860-1945) American physician, writer, poet, politician
  “The Final Test” ]]> https://wist.info/naylor-james-ball/36035/feed/ 0 36035 https://wist.info/gervais-ricky/34491/ https://wist.info/gervais-ricky/34491/#respond Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:50:32 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=34491 The only route to success is hard work. If you didn’t work hard I don’t think it counts as success.
  
  Ricky Gervais (b. 1961) English comedian, actor, director, writer
  Twitter (27 Nov 2012)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/gervais-ricky/34491/feed/ 0 34491 https://wist.info/quarles-francis/33913/ https://wist.info/quarles-francis/33913/#respond Tue, 24 May 2016 13:46:40 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33913 The way to bliss lies not on beds of down,
  And he that has no cross deserves no crown.
  
  Francis Quarles (1592-1644) English poet
  Esther, Sec. 9, Meditation 9 (1621) ]]> https://wist.info/quarles-francis/33913/feed/ 0 33913 https://wist.info/colton-charles-caleb/32950/ https://wist.info/colton-charles-caleb/32950/#respond Thu, 10 Mar 2016 17:51:22 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32950 Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storm.

  

  
  Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
  Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 28 (1820)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/colton-charles-caleb/32950/feed/ 0 32950 https://wist.info/de-stael-germaine/32568/ https://wist.info/de-stael-germaine/32568/#respond Tue, 09 Feb 2016 14:33:44 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32568 Ought not every woman, like every man, to follow the bent of her own talents?
  
  Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) Swiss-French writer, woman of letters, critic, salonist [Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, Madame de Staël, Madame Necker]
  Corinne, Book 14, ch. 1 (1807) ]]> https://wist.info/de-stael-germaine/32568/feed/ 0 32568 https://wist.info/munroe-randall/32242/ https://wist.info/munroe-randall/32242/#respond Wed, 20 Jan 2016 14:52:01 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32242 You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.

  

  
  Randall Munroe (b. 1984) American webcomic writer, roboticist, programmer
  XKCD, # 896 “Marie Curie” (9 May 2011)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/munroe-randall/32242/feed/ 0 32242 https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/31333/ https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/31333/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2015 14:20:18 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=31333 MALVOLIO: In my stars I am above thee, but be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.

  

  
  William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
  Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 5, l. 147ff (2.5.147-150) (1601)
      (Source)
  
  The phrase appears three times in the play:
  
  
  1. As above, Malvolio reading the forged love letter from Maria.
  2. Act 3, sc. 4, l. 42ff, Malvolio recalling the phrases from the letter.
  3. Act 5, sc. 1, l. 393ff, the Fool reciting the second half of the phrase.
  See also Boorstin. ]]> https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/31333/feed/ 1 31333 https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/31126/ https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/31126/#respond Wed, 21 Oct 2015 14:50:01 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=31126 We are very near to greatness: one step and we are safe: can we not take the leap?
  
  
  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
  Journal (1841-10-28) ]]> https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/31126/feed/ 0 31126 https://wist.info/de-gaulle-charles/30947/ https://wist.info/de-gaulle-charles/30947/#respond Wed, 07 Oct 2015 13:22:46 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=30947 Every man of action has a strong dose of egotism, pride, hardness, and cunning. But all those things will be forgiven him, indeed, they will be regarded as high qualities, if he can make of them the means to achieve great ends.
  
  Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) French statesman and soldier
  The Edge of the Sword, “Of Prestige” (2) (1934) [tr. Hopkins (1960)] ]]> https://wist.info/de-gaulle-charles/30947/feed/ 0 30947 https://wist.info/kettering-charles/29755/ https://wist.info/kettering-charles/29755/#respond Fri, 26 Jun 2015 14:52:34 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29755 No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.
  
  Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
  In “Looking ahead with Boss Ket,” Popular Mechanics (Feb 1935) ]]> https://wist.info/kettering-charles/29755/feed/ 0 29755 https://wist.info/santayana-george/29693/ https://wist.info/santayana-george/29693/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2015 14:48:37 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29693 The Difficult is that which can be done immediately; the Impossible is that which takes a little longer.
  
  George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
  (Attributed)
  
  Quoted in Reader's Digest (Nov 1939), but without citation. The sentiment has a number of antecedents (see discussion here). ]]> https://wist.info/santayana-george/29693/feed/ 1 29693 https://wist.info/kettering-charles/29648/ https://wist.info/kettering-charles/29648/#respond Fri, 12 Jun 2015 11:55:14 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29648 Every great improvement has come after repeated failures. Virtually nothing comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.
  
  Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
  (Attributed)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/kettering-charles/29648/feed/ 0 29648 https://wist.info/hoffer-eric/29470/ https://wist.info/hoffer-eric/29470/#respond Thu, 28 May 2015 13:16:17 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29470 There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day: we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life. Moreover, when we have an alibi for not writing a book, painting a picture, and so on, we have an alibi for not writing the greatest book and not painting the greatest picture. Small wonder that the effort expended and the punishment endured in obtaining a good alibi often exceed the effort and grief requisite for the attainment of a most marked achievement.
  
  Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
  Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 181 (1955)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/hoffer-eric/29470/feed/ 0 29470 https://wist.info/hill-napoleon/29409/ https://wist.info/hill-napoleon/29409/#respond Thu, 21 May 2015 12:04:54 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29409 The starting point of all achievement is desire.
  
  Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) American author, motivational writer
  Think and Grow Rich (1937) ]]> https://wist.info/hill-napoleon/29409/feed/ 0 29409 https://wist.info/gibran-kahlil/29335/ https://wist.info/gibran-kahlil/29335/#respond Thu, 14 May 2015 13:04:09 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29335 To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
  
  Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
  (Attributed)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/gibran-kahlil/29335/feed/ 0 29335 https://wist.info/barrie-james/29171/ https://wist.info/barrie-james/29171/#respond Thu, 30 Apr 2015 12:03:51 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29171 MAGGIE: Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and the wife smiles, and lets it go at that.
  
  J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
  What Every Woman Knows, Act 4 (1918)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/barrie-james/29171/feed/ 0 29171 https://wist.info/thackeray-william-makepeace/29158/ https://wist.info/thackeray-william-makepeace/29158/#respond Wed, 29 Apr 2015 11:57:02 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29158 Whatever you are, be a good one.
  
  William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) English novelist
  (Attributed)
  
  Attributed in Laurence Hutton, "A Boy I Knew," St Nicholas Magazine (Mar 1897), where it was originally given as "Whatever you are, try to be a good one." Often attributed to Abraham Lincoln (first recorded in 1946). For more information, see here. ]]> https://wist.info/thackeray-william-makepeace/29158/feed/ 0 29158 https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/29030/ https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/29030/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:10:40 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29030 Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
  
  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
  “Table Talk,” Drift-Wood (1857)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/29030/feed/ 0 29030 https://wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-francois/28933/ https://wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-francois/28933/#respond Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:44:38 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28933 Ambitious Men cheat themselves, when they fix upon any Ends for their Ambition; those Ends, when they are attained to, are converted into Means, subordinate to something farther.
  
  François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
  Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims] (1665-1678) [tr. Stanhope (1694), Part 4, ¶65]
      (Source)
  
  Reported in multiple translations, but no modern ones. I cannot find the analog for it, the French original, or the "official" number.
  
  Appears in the 1706 (Powell) ed. of Stanhope as ¶711.
  
  Alternate translations:
  
  

  The ambitious deceive themselves in proposing an end to their ambition; for that end, when attained, becomes a means.
  [pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶32]

  
  

  When the ambitious propose an end to their ambition, they deceive themselves; for, when attained, the end becomes a mean.
  [ed. Carville (1835), ¶29]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-francois/28933/feed/ 0 28933 https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28609/ https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28609/#respond Mon, 16 Mar 2015 12:00:45 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28609 Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.
  
  Helen Keller (1880-1968) American author and lecturer
  “Optimism” (1903)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28609/feed/ 0 28609 https://wist.info/stanley-bessie-a/28428/ https://wist.info/stanley-bessie-a/28428/#respond Fri, 27 Feb 2015 13:03:39 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28428 He achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
  Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
  Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
  Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth’s beauty or failed to express it;
  Who has left the world better than he found it,
  Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
  Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
  Whose life was an inspiration;
  Whose memory a benediction.
  
  Elisabeth-Anne "Bessie" Anderson Stanley (1879–1952) American poet
  “Success” (1905)
  
  The essay was written for a poetry contest to answer the question "What is success?" in 100 words or less. It (especially the first 13 words) is often misattributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or Elbert Hubbard (the latter probably because the essay appeared in an advertisment in his series of books Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Lovers (e.g.).
  
  More information: Bessie Anderson Stanley - Wikipedia. ]]> https://wist.info/stanley-bessie-a/28428/feed/ 0 28428 https://wist.info/chesterfield-lord/28128/ https://wist.info/chesterfield-lord/28128/#respond Mon, 26 Jan 2015 13:48:48 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28128 A little mind is always hurried, by twenty things at once; but a man of sense does but one thing at a time, and resolves to excel in it; for whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
  
  Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
  Letter to his son, #71 (10 Mar 1746)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/chesterfield-lord/28128/feed/ 0 28128 https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/27993/ https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/27993/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:58:15 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27993 Lives of great men all remind us
  We can make our lives sublime,
  And, departing, leave behind us
  Footprints on the sands of time.
  
  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
  “A Psalm of Life” (1838) ]]> https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/27993/feed/ 0 27993 https://wist.info/xerxes/27846/ https://wist.info/xerxes/27846/#respond Tue, 30 Dec 2014 17:28:37 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27846 Success for the most part attends those who act boldly, not those who weigh everything, and are slow to venture.
  
  Xerxes I (519-465 BC) King the Achaemenid Empire of Persia [Xerxes the Great]
  In Herodotus, The Persian Wars, 7.50 [tr. Rawlinson (1942)] ]]> https://wist.info/xerxes/27846/feed/ 0 27846 https://wist.info/la-bruyere-jean-de/27389/ https://wist.info/la-bruyere-jean-de/27389/#respond Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:30:34 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27389 There are but two ways of rising in the world: either by your own industry or by the folly of others.

  [Il n’y a au monde que deux manières de s’élever, ou par sa propre industrie, ou par l’imbécillité des autres.]

  
  Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
  The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 6 “Of Gifts of Fortune [Des Biens de Fortune],” § 52 (6.52) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (French)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  There is but two ways of rising in the World, by your own Industry, and another's Weakness.
  [Bullord ed. (1696)]

  
  

  There are only two ways of rising in the World, by your own Industry, or by the Weakness of others.
  [Curll ed. (1713)]

  
  

  There are but two ways of rising in the World, by your own Industry, or the Weakness of others.
  [Browne ed. (1752)]

  
  

  There are only two ways of getting on in the world: either by one's own cunning efforts, or by other people's foolishness.
  [tr. Stewart (1970)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/la-bruyere-jean-de/27389/feed/ 0 27389 https://wist.info/nietzsche-friedrich/27081/ https://wist.info/nietzsche-friedrich/27081/#respond Fri, 03 Oct 2014 11:49:50 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27081 If ye would go up high, then use your own legs! Do not get yourselves carried aloft; do not seat yourselves on other people’s backs and heads!
  
  Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
  Thus Spoke Zarathustra [Also sprach Zarathustra], Part 4, ch. 73 (1883-85) ]]> https://wist.info/nietzsche-friedrich/27081/feed/ 0 27081 https://wist.info/hurst-fannie/26667/ https://wist.info/hurst-fannie/26667/#respond Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:51:32 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=26667 SID: It is not what you are; it’s what you don’t become that hurts.
  
  Fannie Hurst (1889-1968) American novelist
  Humoresque [film] (1946) [screenplay Clifford Odets, Zachary Gold]
  
  Spoken by Oscar Levant. ]]> https://wist.info/hurst-fannie/26667/feed/ 0 26667 https://wist.info/napoleon-bonaparte/26594/ https://wist.info/napoleon-bonaparte/26594/#respond Thu, 21 Aug 2014 12:51:15 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=26594 From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.
  
  Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) French emperor, military leader
  Comment to the Abbé du Pradt (10 Dec 1812)
      (Source)
  
  During the retreat from Moscow, a repeated comment during a discussion with one of his ambassadors. Quoted by Archibald Alison, History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789, to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815, Vol. 16, ch. 73 (1842). See also Paine.
  
  Alt. trans.:
  • "There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous."
  • "There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous."
  • "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but a step."
  ]]> https://wist.info/napoleon-bonaparte/26594/feed/ 0 26594 https://wist.info/bible-nt/25457/ https://wist.info/bible-nt/25457/#respond Thu, 22 May 2014 12:16:51 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=25457 What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

  [τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖ ἄνθρωπον κερδῆσαι τὸν κόσμον ὅλον καὶ ζημιωθῆναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ]

  
  The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
  Mark 8: 36 (Jesus) [KJV (1611)]
      (Source)
  
  This passage is paralleled in Matthew 16:26 and Luke 9:25.
  
  (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  What gain, then, is it for a man to win the whole world and ruin his life?
  [JB (1966)]

  
  

  What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life?
  [NJB (1985)]

  
  

  Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not!
  [GNT (1992 ed.)]

  
  

  Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?
  [CEB (2011)]

  
  

  For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
  [NRSV (2021 ed.)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/bible-nt/25457/feed/ 0 25457 https://wist.info/holland-josiah-g/23572/ https://wist.info/holland-josiah-g/23572/#respond Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:33:16 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=23572 It is intended that we shall accomplish all, through law, that we can accomplish for ourselves. God gives every bird its food, but does not throw it into the nest. He does not unearth the good that the earth contains, but He puts it in our way, and gives us the means of getting it ourselves.
  
  J. G. Holland (1819-1881) American novelist, poet, editor [Josiah Gilbert Holland; pseud. Timothy Titcomb]
  (Attributed)
  
  Quoted in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) ]]> https://wist.info/holland-josiah-g/23572/feed/ 0 23572 https://wist.info/watterson-bill/23183/ https://wist.info/watterson-bill/23183/#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2013 13:30:47 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=23183 Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success.
  
  Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
  Commencement Address, Kenyon College (20 May 1990)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/watterson-bill/23183/feed/ 0 23183 https://wist.info/boorstin-daniel-j/20822/ https://wist.info/boorstin-daniel-j/20822/#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:01:30 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=20822 Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.
  
  Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004) American historian, professor, attorney, writer
  (Attributed)
  
  See Shakespeare. ]]> https://wist.info/boorstin-daniel-j/20822/feed/ 1 20822 https://wist.info/hunt-leigh/18720/ https://wist.info/hunt-leigh/18720/#respond Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:33:28 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=18720 Jenny kissed me when we met,
  Jumping from the chair she sat in;
  Time, you thief, who love to get
  Sweets into your list, put that in:
  Say I’m weary, say I’m sad,
  Say that health and wealth have missed me,
  Say I’m growing old, but add,
  Jenny kissed me.
  
  Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) English critic, essayist, poet, writer [James Henry Leigh Hunt]
  “Jenny Kissed Me” (1838)
  
  Though Hunt called it "rondeau" (and that is sometimes given as its title), it is not, in fact, a rondeau.
  
  Widely republished, the punctuation (and occasional italics) of the poem vary between most reprintings.
  
  The "Jenny" is said to be Jane Welsh Carlyle, wife of Thomas Carlyle. The embrace, in some retellings, was in gratitude for Hunt's sonnet, "On a Lock of Milton's Hair." In others it was because he brought the news that her husband had been awarded a £300 pension by the British government. In still others, it was because Hunt had been absent for so long and showed up unexpectedly.
  
  The poem is often said to have been published in an 1838 edition of the Monthly Chronicle, but an article in American Notes and Queries (1889-11-02), quoting the Chicago Dial, says that the poem published in the November 1838 edition of Monthly Chronicle, after the (unnamed?) author discusses a desire to publish a rondeau "which was written on a real occasion," is slightly different:
  
  

  Nelly kiss'd me when we met,
  Jumping from the chair she sat in;
  Time, you thief! who love to get
  Sweets into your list, put that in.
  Say I'm jaundic'd, say I'm sad,
  Say that health and wealth have miss'd me,
  Say I'm growing old, but add
  Nelly kiss'd me.

  
  Whether this was initial reticence to mention an actual acquaintance, or a matter of Hunt later changing the actual name and others inferring that that it referred to the wife of his friend, will likely never be known. ]]> https://wist.info/hunt-leigh/18720/feed/ 0 18720 https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/18398/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/18398/#respond Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:40:35 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=18398 Practical equality of opportunity for all citizens, when we achieve it, will have two great results. First, every man will have a fair chance to make of himself all that in him lies; to reach the highest point to which his capacities, unassisted by special privilege of his own and unhampered by the special privilege of others, can carry him, and to get for himself and his family substantially what he has earned. Second, equality of opportunity means that the commonwealth will get from every citizen the highest service of which he is capable. No man who carries the burden of the special privileges of another can give to the commonwealth that service to which it is fairly entitled.
  
  Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
  Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/18398/feed/ 0 18398 https://wist.info/penn-william/18010/ https://wist.info/penn-william/18010/#respond Tue, 22 May 2012 13:09:11 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=18010 No pain, no palm;
  No thorns, no throne;
  No gall, no glory;
  No cross, no crown.
  
  William Penn (1644-1718) English writer, philosopher, politician, statesman
  “No Cross, No Crown” (1682)
  
  Originally written while a prisoner in the Tower of London (1668-69). See Quarles (1621), Breton (1577). ]]> https://wist.info/penn-william/18010/feed/ 0 18010 https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/16178/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/16178/#respond Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:09:21 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16178 I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life. The life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
  
  Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
  Speech (1899-04-10), “The Strenuous Life,” Hamilton Club, Chicago
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/16178/feed/ 0 16178 https://wist.info/holmes-sr-oliver-wendell/12283/ https://wist.info/holmes-sr-oliver-wendell/12283/#respond Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:33:43 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=12283 You long to “leap at a single bound into celebrity.” Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable. Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else, — very rarely to those who say to themselves, “Go to, now, let us be a celebrated individual!”
  
  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
  Article (1858-10), “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly
      (Source)
  
  Collected in The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch. 12 (1858). ]]> https://wist.info/holmes-sr-oliver-wendell/12283/feed/ 0 12283 https://wist.info/camus-albert/11366/ https://wist.info/camus-albert/11366/#respond Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:43:05 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=11366 Freedom is not a gift received from a State or a leader but a possession to be won every day by the effort of each and the union of all.

  

  
  Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
  “Bread and Freedom” (1957), Resistance, Rebellion, and Death [tr. O’Brien (1961)] ]]> https://wist.info/camus-albert/11366/feed/ 0 11366 https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/9768/ https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/9768/#respond Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:38:35 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=9768 Those indeed who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.
  
  Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
  Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Pope” (1781)
      (Source)
  
  Also known as Lives of English Poets and Lives of the Poets. ]]> https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/9768/feed/ 0 9768 https://wist.info/rice-grantland/9754/ https://wist.info/rice-grantland/9754/#respond Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:10:52 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=9754 For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
  He writes — not that you won or lost — but how you played the Game.
  
  Grantland Rice (1880-1954) American sportswriter
  “Alumnus Football,” l. 63ff (1908)
      (Source)
  
  Often paraphrased, "It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."
  
  For more information on variations in this poem, and quotations from it, see here. ]]> https://wist.info/rice-grantland/9754/feed/ 0 9754 https://wist.info/smith-logan-pearsall/6644/ https://wist.info/smith-logan-pearsall/6644/#respond Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:44:17 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=6644 There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.
  
  Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946) American-English essayist, editor, anthologist
  Afterthoughts, “Life and Human Nature” (1931) ]]> https://wist.info/smith-logan-pearsall/6644/feed/ 0 6644 https://wist.info/mann-horace/5634/ https://wist.info/mann-horace/5634/#respond Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:34:13 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=5634 Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.
  
  Horace Mann (1796-1859) American politician, abolitionist, education reformer
  Baccalaureate address, Antioch College, Ohio (1859)
  
  Final public address. ]]> https://wist.info/mann-horace/5634/feed/ 0 5634 https://wist.info/brilliant-ashleigh/920/ https://wist.info/brilliant-ashleigh/920/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=920 I could do great things, if I weren’t so busy doing little things.
  
  Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
  Pot-Shots, #0828 ]]> https://wist.info/brilliant-ashleigh/920/feed/ 0 920 https://wist.info/hayes-helen/1802/ https://wist.info/hayes-helen/1802/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=1802 My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that’s nice too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about the success.
  
  Helen Hayes (1900-1993) American actress
  Reader’s Digest (1958) ]]> https://wist.info/hayes-helen/1802/feed/ 0 1802 https://wist.info/virgil/4008/ https://wist.info/virgil/4008/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=4008 Those blush to lose a conquering game,
  And fain would peril life for fame:
  These bring success their zeal to fan;
  They can because they think they can.

  [Hi proprium decus et partum indignantur honorem
  ni teneant, vitamque volunt pro laude pacisci;
  hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur.]

  
  Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
  The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 5, l. 229ff (5.229-231) (29-19 BC) [tr. Conington (1866)]
      (Source)
  
  Of the crews of the two remaining ships racing at the funeral games of Anchises: Cloanthus' Scylla which is closing on the finish line; Mnestheus' Pristis which has come up from last place and may yet take the lead. (Cloanthus wins the race by offering a sacrifice to the sea gods.)
  
  (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  These their new glory, honours got despise,
  Unless they keep it, and to gaine the prize
  Would sell their lives; success feeds them; they may
  Because they think they can obtain the day.
  [tr. Ogilby (1649)]

  
  

  Resolv'd to hold their own, they mend their pace,
  All obstinate to die, or gain the race.
  Rais'd with success, the Dolphin swiftly ran;
  For they can conquer, who believe they can.
  [tr. Dryden (1697)]

  
  

  These are fired with indignation, lest they should lose their possession of glory and honor they have won; and they are willing to barter life for renown. Those success cherishes; they are able because they seem to be able.
  [tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]

  
  

  These scorn to lose the honour that is their own, the glory in their grasp, and would sell life for renown; to these success lends life; power comes with belief in it.
  [tr. Mackail (1885)]

  
  

  These, thinking shame of letting fall their hardly-gotten gain
  Of glory's meed, to buy the praise with very life are fain;
  Those, fed on good-hap, all things may, because they deem they may
  [tr. Morris (1900), l. 228ff]

  
  

  These scorn to lose their vantage, stung with shame,
  And life is wagered willingly for fame.
  Success inspires the hindmost; as they dare,
  They do; the thought of winning wins the game.
  [tr. Taylor (1907), st. 31, l. 274ff]

  
  

  The leaders now with eager souls would scorn
  to lose their glory, and faint-hearted fail
  to grasp a prize half-won, but fain would buy
  honor with life itself; the followers too
  are flushed with proud success, and feel them strong
  because their strength is proven.
  [tr. Williams (1910)]

  
  

  These think it shame not to keep the honour that is theirs, the glory they have won, and would barter life for fame: those success heartens; strong are they, for strong they deem themselves.
  [tr. Fairclough (1916)]

  
  

                 On the Scylla
  They would give their lives to hold their place, they have won it,
  The glory and honor are theirs already, almost;
  And Mnestheus’ men take courage from their nearness;
  They can because they think they can.
  [tr. Humphries (1951)]

  
  

  One crew was compelled by the shame of losing a prize they had all but
  Gained for their own, and would give their lives for its glory; the other
  Was fired by success -- they could do it because they believed they could do it.
  [tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]

  
  

                 Cloanthus' crewmen
  now think it a disgrace to fail to keep
  the fame and honor they themselves have won,
  and they would give their very lives for glory;
  but Menestheus' men are strengthened by success,
  they have the power because they feel they have it.
  [tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 301ff]

  
  

  One crew fought off the shame of losing honor
  Theirs already, glory won; they'd give
  Their lives for fame; but luck empowered the others
  Who felt that they could do it, and so could.
  [tr. Fitzgerald (1981), l. 294ff]

  
  

  Cloanthus and his men on the Scylla saw the honour as theirs by right. They had already won the victory and had no intention of giving it up. They would rather have lost their lives than lose the glory. Mnestheus and his men on the Pristis were feeding on success. They could win because they thought they could.
  [tr. West (1990)]

  
  

  The former crew are unhappy lest they fail to keep
  the honour that is theirs and the glory already
  in their possession, and would sell their lives for fame.
  the latter feed on success: they can because they think they can.
  [tr. Kline (2002)]

  
  

  One crew, stung by the shame of losing victory now
  with glory won, would trade their lives for fame.
  But Mnestheus and his crew, fired by their success,
  can just about win the day because they think they can.
  [tr. Fagles (2006), l. 256ff]

  
  

  One crew would hate to lose the glory of an honor all but one. They'd trade their lives for victory. The others were encouraged by success. Belief in victory spurred them on.
  [tr. Bartsch (2021)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/virgil/4008/feed/ 0 4008 https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/151/ https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/151/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=151 We aim above the mark to hit the mark.
  
  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
  “Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/151/feed/ 0 151 https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/3347/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/3347/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=3347 It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong stumbled or where the doer of the deed could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
  
  Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
  Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/3347/feed/ 0 3347 https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/2602/ https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/2602/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=2602 We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
  
  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
  Kavanagh: A Tale, ch. 1 (1849)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/longfellow-henry-wadsworth/2602/feed/ 0 2602 https://wist.info/washington-booker-t/4055/ https://wist.info/washington-booker-t/4055/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=4055 I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
  
  Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) American educator, writer
  Up from Slavery, ch. 2 (1901)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/washington-booker-t/4055/feed/ 0 4055