WIST Quotations

Hugo, Victor -- Les Misérables, Part 5 “Jean Valjean,” Book 6 “The White Night,” ch 2 (5.6.2) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]

Dave — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 18:15:54 +0000

You’ve landed the winning number in the lottery: love in matrimony. You’ve won the big prize, look after it well, keep it under lock and key, don’t squander it, adore each other, and never mind the rest. Believe what I’m telling you. It’s good sense. Good sense cannot lie. Be a religion to each other. Every man has his own way of adoring God. Heavens above! the best way to adore God is to love your wife.

[Vous avez chipé à la loterie le bon numéro, l’amour dans le sacrement ; vous avez le gros lot, gardez-le bien, mettez-le sous clef, ne le gaspillez pas, adorez-vous, et fichez-vous du reste. Croyez ce que je dis là. C’est du bon sens. Bon sens ne peut mentir. Soyez-vous l’un pour l’autre une religion. Chacun a sa façon d’adorer Dieu. Saperlotte ! la meilleure manière d’adorer Dieu, c’est d’aimer sa femme.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 5 “Jean Valjean,” Book 6 “The White Night,” ch 2 (5.6.2) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)

Toast by M. Gillenormand at the wedding of Marius and Cosette.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

You have filched the good number in the lottery, a love-match; you have the highest prize, take good care of it, put it under lock and key, don’t squander it, worship each other, and snap your fingers at the rest. Believe what I tell you. It is good sense. Good sense cannot lie. Be a religion to each other. Every one has his own way of worshipping God. Zounds! the best way to worship God is to love your wife.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

You have drawn the good number in the lottery, love in the sacrament. You have the prize number, so keep it carefully under lock and key. Do not squander it. Adore each other, and a fig for the rest. Believe what I tell you, then, for it is good sense, and good sense cannot deceive. Be to one another a religion, for each man has his own way of adoring God. Saperlotte! the best way of adoring God is to love one’s wife.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

You have filched the winning number in the lottery; you have gained the great prize, guard it well, keep it under lock and key, do not squander it, adore each other and snap your fingers at all the rest. Believe what I say to you. It is good sense. And good sense cannot lie. Be a religion to each other. Each man has his own fashion of adoring God. Saperlotte! the best way to adore God is to love one's wife.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

You have drawn the winning number in the lottery and you must treasure it. Each must be a religion to the other. We all have our own way of worshipping God, but the best of all, Heaven knows, is to love one’s wife.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

You have filched the good number in the lottery, a love match; you have the big prize, take good care of it, put it under lock and key, don't squander it, worship each other, and snap your fingers at the rest. Believe what I tell you. It is good sense. Good sense cannot lie. Be a religion to each other. Everyone has his own way of worshiping God. The best way to worship God is to love your wife.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

Carlyle, Thomas -- Sartor Resartus, Book 3, ch. 7 (1834)

Dave — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:42:27 +0000

Hero-worship exists, has existed, and will forever exist, universally among mankind.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 3, ch. 7 (1834)
(Source)

Quoting Herr Teufelsdröckh.

This passage first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, No. 55 (1834-07).

Billings, Josh -- Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:20:55 +0000

The love that a man gains by flattery, is worth just about az mutch az the flattery is.

[The love that a man gains by flattery is worth just about as much as the flattery is.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
(Source)

Lessing, Doris -- Particularly Cats, ch. 5 (1967)

Dave — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:48:32 +0000

Oh cat; I’d say, or pray: be-ooootiful cat! Delicious cat! Exquisite cat! Satiny cat! Cat like a soft owl, cat with paws like moths, jeweled cat, miraculous cat! Cat, cat, cat, cat.

Doris Lessing (1919-2013) British author, biographer, playwright [b. Doris May Tayler]
Particularly Cats, ch. 5 (1967)
(Source)

Jerome, Jerome K. -- Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, “On Being In Love” (1886)

Dave — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 23:20:23 +0000

But we are so blind to our own shortcomings, so wide awake to those of others. Everything that happens to us is always the other person’s fault. Angelina would have gone on loving Edwin forever and ever and ever if only Edwin had not grown so strange and different. Edwin would have adored Angelina through eternity if Angelina had only remained the same as when he first adored her.
It is a cheerless hour for you both when the lamp of love has gone out and the fire of affection is not yet lit, and you have to grope about in the cold, raw dawn of life to kindle it. God grant it catches light before the day is too far spent. Many sit shivering by the dead coals till night come.

Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer, humorist [Jerome Klapka Jerome]
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, “On Being In Love” (1886)
(Source)

Holland, Barbara -- Endangered Pleasures, “Dogs” (1995)

Dave — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 17:26:56 +0000

Almost any dog thinks almost any human is the Great Spirit, the Primal Creator, and the Universal Force Behind the Sun and Tides. What human can resist?

Barbara Holland (1933-2010) American author
Endangered Pleasures, “Dogs” (1995)
(Source)

Abbott, George -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 01:07:41 +0000

If you want to be adored by your peers and have standing ovations wherever you go — live to be over ninety.

George Abbott (1887-1995) American director, producer, dramatist
(Attributed)

Quoted in his obituary in The Times of London (2 Feb 1995)