WIST Quotations

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1716-06-29), The Freeholder, No. 55

Dave — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 22:41:07 +0000

A good Cause doth not want any Bitterness to support it, as a bad one cannot subsist without it. It is indeed observable, that an Author is scurrilous in proportion as he is dull; and seems rather to be in a Passion, because he cannot find out what to say for his own Opinion, than because he has discovered any pernicious Absurdities in that of his Antagonists.

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1716-06-29), The Freeholder, No. 55

Ziglar, Zig -- See You at the Top, Segment 2, ch. 2 “Causes of a Poor Self Image” (1974)

Dave — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 17:37:02 +0000

The usual devastating put-downs imply that a person is basically bad, rather than that he is a person who sometimes does bad things. Obviously, there is a vast difference between a “bad” person and a person who does something bad.

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar (1926–2012) American author, salesperson, motivational speaker
See You at the Top, Segment 2, ch. 2 “Causes of a Poor Self Image” (1974)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Assault upon Mr. Sumner,” speech, Concord (1856-05-26)

Dave — Fri, 02 May 2014 13:22:45 +0000

It is only when they cannot answer your reasons, that they wish to knock you down.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Assault upon Mr. Sumner,” speech, Concord (1856-05-26)

Johnson, Samuel -- The Rambler, #76 (8 Dec 1750)

Dave — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 12:45:08 +0000

Every whisper of infamy is industriously circulated, every hint of suspicion eagerly improved, and every failure of conduct joyfully published by those whose interest it is that the eye and voice of the public should be employed on any rather than themselves.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #76 (8 Dec 1750)

Rushdie, Salman -- “Do we have to fight the battle for the Enlightenment all over again?” The Independent (22 Jan 2005)

Dave — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:22:08 +0000

At Cambridge University I was taught a laudable method of argument: you never personalise, but you have absolutely no respect for people’s opinions. You are never rude to the person, but you can be savagely rude about what the person thinks. That seems to me a crucial distinction: people must be protected from discrimination by virtue of their race, but you cannot ring-fence their ideas. The moment you say that any idea system is sacred, whether it’s a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.

Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) Indian novelist
“Do we have to fight the battle for the Enlightenment all over again?” The Independent (22 Jan 2005)

~Proverbs and Sayings -- Chinese proverb

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Chinese proverb