WIST Quotations

Russell, Bertrand -- Autobiography, Vol. 3: 1944-1969, ch. 1 “Return to England” (1969)

Dave — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 21:49:22 +0000

We sat in the plane while it slowly sank. Small boats assembled round it and presently we were told to jump into the sea and swim to a boat — which all the people in my part of the plane did. We later learned that all the nineteen passengers in the non-smoking compartment had been killed. When the plane had hit the water a hole had been made in the plane and the water had rushed in. I had told a friend at Oslo who was finding me a place that he must find me a place where I could smoke, remarking jocularly, ‘If I cannot smoke, I shall die’. Unexpectedly, this turned out to be true.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Autobiography, Vol. 3: 1944-1969, ch. 1 “Return to England” (1969)
(Source)

On a 1948 seaplane flight he took from Germany to Norway.

Stross, Charles -- The Apocalypse Codex (2012)

Dave — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 21:59:30 +0000

Uneventful. Boring. Tedious. All good adjectives to apply to long-haul travel; much better than exciting, unexpected, and abrupt.

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
The Apocalypse Codex (2012)

Kerr, Jean -- “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall,” The Snake Has All the Lines (1958)

Dave — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 14:05:51 +0000

I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on.

Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall,” The Snake Has All the Lines (1958)