WIST Quotations

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1991-06-09)

Dave — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:59:10 +0000

CALVIN: Why does the universe always give you the sign after you do it?

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1991-06-09)
(Source)

Kempton, Murray -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sat, 23 May 2020 22:51:04 +0000

A critic is someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded.

Murray Kempton (1917-1997) American journalist.
(Attributed)

Generally attributed to Kempton (though sometimes as being about editorial writers rather than critics) without specific citation. More on this quote here.

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 1181 (1732)

Dave — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:40:49 +0000

Counsel is irksome when the Matter is past Remedy.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 1181 (1732)
(Source)

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

Dave — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:44:47 +0000

We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.

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.

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Reconsider,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

RECONSIDER, v. To seek a justification for a decision already made.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Reconsider,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in the The Devil's Dictionary [A-Z] as Vol. 7 of his Collected Works.