WIST Quotations

Hass, Aaron -- Doing the Right Thing: Cultivating Your Moral Intelligence, Sec. 1, ch. 7 “Self-Control” (1998)

Dave — Tue, 26 May 2020 21:55:52 +0000

Bragging is not merely designed to impress. Bragging is designed to produce envy and assert superiority. It is, therefore, an act of hostility. Bragging is also a transparent ploy. It reveals your lack of self-confidence. “I am not enough,” you feel. So you resort to showering me with your “achievements,” in order to mask your perceived deficiencies.

Aaron Hass (contemp.) American clinical psychiatrist, academic, author
Doing the Right Thing: Cultivating Your Moral Intelligence, Sec. 1, ch. 7 “Self-Control” (1998)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7

Dave — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 21:56:54 +0000

Most of the great results of history are brought about by discreditable means.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Lehrer, Tom -- People (11 Jan 1982)

Dave — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:31:23 +0000

What good is having laurels if you can’t rest on them?

Tom Lehrer (b. 1928) American mathematician, satirist, songwriter
People (11 Jan 1982)
(Source)

Lehrer has used the phrase and variants many times over the years.

Johnson, Samuel -- Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Pope” (1781)

Dave — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:56:06 +0000

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.

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.

Adams, Douglas -- Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Phase 1, “Fit the 3rd” (BBC Radio) (1978-03-22)

Dave — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:52:15 +0000

NARRATOR: For instance, on the planet Earth Man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much … the wheel, New York, wars, and so on, whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely the dolphins believed themselves to be more intelligent than man for precisely the same reasons.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Phase 1, “Fit the 3rd” (BBC Radio) (1978-03-22)
(Source)

This is rendered the same (save for some punctuation polishing) in the novel form, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy No. 1, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, ch. 23 (1979):

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars and so on -- whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man -- for precisely the same reasons.