WIST Quotations

Adams, Douglas -- Dirk Gently No. 1, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 7 (1987)

Dave — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 20:52:19 +0000

Gordon Way’s astonishment at being suddenly shot dead was nothing to his astonishment at what happened next.

Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Dirk Gently No. 1, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 7 (1987)
(Source)

Carlyle, Thomas -- Essay (1829-06), “Signs of the Times,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 49, No. 98, Art. 7

Dave — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:14:13 +0000

Wonder, indeed, is, on all hands, dying out: it is the sign of uncultivation to wonder.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1829-06), “Signs of the Times,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 49, No. 98, Art. 7
(Source)

Review of three 1829 books: Anticipation; or, an Hundred Years Hence; The Rise, Progress, and Present State of Public Opinion in Great Britain; Edward Irvine, The Last Days; or, Discourses on These Our Times.

Clarke, Arthur C. -- How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village, Part 4, ch. 27 (1992)

Dave — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 23:01:02 +0000

The Universe appears to be a device contrived for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers.

Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British writer
How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village, Part 4, ch. 27 (1992)
(Source)

A number of variants can be found, e.g., "I sometimes think the universe is a machine designed for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers" or "The universe: a device contrived for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers." The above is the only one I could find from a source by Clarke himself.

Ionesco, Eugene -- Fragments of a Journal [Journal en Miettes], “The Crisis of Language” (1967) [tr. Stewart (1968)]

Dave — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 15:19:57 +0000

Childhood is the world of miracle and wonder; as if creation rose, bathed in light out of the darkness, utterly new and fresh and astonishing. The end of childhood is when things cease to astonish us. When the world seems familiar, when one has got used to existence, one has become adult. The brave new world, the wonderland has grown trite and commonplace.

[L’enfance c’est le monde du miracle ou du merveilleux: c’est comme si la creation surgissait, lumineuse, de la nuit, toute neuve et toute fraîche, et tout étonnante. Il n’y a plus d’enfance à partir du moment où les choses ne sont plus étonnantes. Lorsque le monde vous semble «déja vu», lorsqu’on s’est habitué à l’existence, on devient adulte. Le monde de la féerie, la merveille neuve se fait banalité, cliché.]

Eugène Ionesco (1912–1994) Romanian-French dramatist
Fragments of a Journal [Journal en Miettes], “The Crisis of Language” (1967) [tr. Stewart (1968)]
(Source)

(Source (French)).

Menen, Aubrey -- The Prevalence of Witches, ch. 4 (1947)

Dave — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:41:00 +0000

It is a mark of genius not to astonish but to be astonished.

Aubrey Menen (1912–1989) British writer, novelist, satirist, theatre critic
The Prevalence of Witches, ch. 4 (1947)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Art,” Essays: First Series, No. 12

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Art,” Essays: First Series, No. 12
(Source)