WIST Quotations

Gordon, Peter E. -- “Why Historical Analogy Matters,” New York Review of Books (7 Jan 2020)

Dave — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 23:24:11 +0000

Like common law, the moral imagination works by precedent and example. We are all equipped with an inherited archive of historical events that serves as the background for everything that occurs. Especially when we are confronted with new events that test the limits of moral comprehension, we call upon what is most familiar in historical memory to regain our sense of moral orientation. We require this archive not only for political judgment, but as the necessary horizon for human experience.

Peter E, Gordon (b. 1966) American intellectual historian
“Why Historical Analogy Matters,” New York Review of Books (7 Jan 2020)
(Source)

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, Part 7 “On the Making of Music, Pictures and Books,” “Thought and Word,” sec. 2 (1912)

Dave — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 18:07:01 +0000

Though analogy is often misleading, it is the best misleading thing we have.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, Part 7 “On the Making of Music, Pictures and Books,” “Thought and Word,” sec. 2 (1912)
(Source)

Churchill, Winston -- “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric” (Nov 1897)

Dave — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 19:29:27 +0000

The influence exercised over the human mind by apt analogies is and has always been immense. Whether they translate an established truth into simple language or whether they adventurously aspire to reveal the unknown, they are among the most formidable weapons of the rhetorician.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
“The Scaffolding of Rhetoric” (Nov 1897)
(Source)

Commonly abridged, "Apt analogies are among the most formidable weapons of the rhetorician."