WIST Quotations

Pasternak, Boris -- Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 1, ch. 1 “The Five O’Clock Express,” sec. 4 [Nika] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), US ed.]

Dave — Tue, 28 May 2024 17:48:23 +0000

“How wonderful to be alive,” he thought. “But why does it always hurt?”

Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator
Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 1, ch. 1 “The Five O’Clock Express,” sec. 4 [Nika] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), US ed.]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

"How wonderful to be alive," he thought. "But why does it always have to be so painful?"
[tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), UK ed.]

"How good it is in this world!" he thought. "But why does it always come out so painful?"
[tr. Pevear & Volokhonsky (2010)]

Chesterton, Gilbert Keith -- “Our Birthday,” G. K.’s Weekly (1935-03-21)

Dave — Fri, 14 May 2021 22:24:57 +0000

The first fact about the celebration of a birthday is that it is a way of affirming defiantly, and even flamboyantly, that it is a good thing to be alive.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
“Our Birthday,” G. K.’s Weekly (1935-03-21)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 9, Letter 10, sec. 3 (9.10.3) (49 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 177]

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 20:30:59 +0000

There is said to be hope for a sick man, as long as there is life.

[Ut aegroto dum anima est, spes esse dicitur.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 9, Letter 10, sec. 3 (9.10.3) (49 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 177]
(Source)

Cicero says this was his feeling of hope for how things would turn out, as long as Pompey was in Italy -- which he had just evacuated from. Cicero makes it clear this is a common phrase at the time, usually expressed more straightforwardly as "While there is life there is hope" [Dum anima est, spes est.]

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

But as we say of sick people, "while there is life there is hope."
[tr. Jeans (1880), # 63]

As in the case of a sick man one says, "While there is life there is hope."
[tr. Shuckburgh (1900), # 364]

As a sick man is said to have hope, so long as he has breath.
[tr. Winstedt (Loeb) (1913)]

Clifford, William Kingdon -- “The First and the Last Catastrophe,” Popular Science Monthly (Jul 1875)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 20:20:27 +0000

Do I seem to say, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die?” Far from it; on the contrary, I say, “Let us take hands and help, for this day we are alive together.”

William Kingdon Clifford (1845-1879) English mathematician and philosopher
“The First and the Last Catastrophe,” Popular Science Monthly (Jul 1875)
(Source)

Oliver, Mary -- “Invitation,” Red Bird: Poems (2008)

Dave — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 23:40:35 +0000

… believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world.

Mary Oliver (1935-2019) American poet
“Invitation,” Red Bird: Poems (2008)
(Source)

On goldfinches singing.

Scalzi, John -- Zoe’s Tale (2008)

Dave — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 01:47:24 +0000

If you ever want to feel like you’re on the verge of total, abject bowel-releasing terror, try making your way a klick or two out of a forest, at night, with the certain feeling you’re being hunted. It makes you feel alive, it really does, but not in a way you want to feel alive.

John Scalzi (b. 1969) American writer
Zoe’s Tale (2008)

Johnson, Samuel -- The Plays of William Shakespeare, Preface (1765)

Dave — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 13:04:15 +0000

While an author is yet living we estimate his powers by his worst performance, and when he is dead we rate them by his best.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Plays of William Shakespeare, Preface (1765)