WIST Quotations

Austen, Jane -- Letter (1811-04-25) to Cassandra Austen

Dave — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 14:56:38 +0000

I give you joy of our new nephew, and hope if he ever comes to be hanged it will not be till we are too old to care about it.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Letter (1811-04-25) to Cassandra Austen
(Source)

Martin, Judith -- Common Courtesy, “In the Quest for Equality, Civilization Itself Is Maligned” (1985)

Dave — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 14:56:29 +0000

We are all born rude. No infant has ever appeared yet with the grace to understand how inconsiderate it is to disturb others in the middle of the night.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Common Courtesy, “In the Quest for Equality, Civilization Itself Is Maligned” (1985)
(Source)

Shaw, George Bernard -- “The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God,” Short Stories, Scraps, and Shavings (1932)

Dave — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 14:43:24 +0000

Life is a flame that is always burning itself out; but it catches fire again every time a child is born.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
“The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God,” Short Stories, Scraps, and Shavings (1932)
(Source)

Longworth, Alice Roosevelt -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 13:59:39 +0000

Having a baby is like trying to push a grand piano through a transom.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980) American writer and socialite
(Attributed)
(Source)

On the birth of her daughter. Though widely attributed to Longworth, she in turn (as she did with many of her attributed witticisms) attributed it to someone else.

Quoted in Michael Teague, ed., Mrs. L.: Conversations With Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Introduction (1981).

Shakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 4, sc. 6, l. 200ff (4.6.200-201) (1606)

Dave — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 20:01:06 +0000

LEAR: When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 4, sc. 6, l. 200ff (4.6.200-201) (1606)
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Radio broadcast (1930-05-11)

Dave — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:16:09 +0000

Great artists say that the most beautiful thing in the world is a little baby. Well, the next most beautiful thing is an old lady, for every wrinkle is a picture.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Radio broadcast (1930-05-11)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- “On smiling,” New York American (1932-08-17)

Dave — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 16:17:19 +0000

One of the most disconcerting things about infants is that they only smile when they are pleased. They stare at visitors with round grave eyes, and when the visitors try to amuse them, they display astonishment at the foolish antics of adults. But as soon as possible, their parents teach them to seem pleased by the company of people to whom they are utterly indifferent.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“On smiling,” New York American (1932-08-17)
(Source)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-01/02)

Dave — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 14:11:24 +0000

Probably no parent is truly born in the moment of birth; the miracle more likely happens in the moment the baby first curls its tiny hand around the parent’s large finger.

Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1963-01/02)
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- “Answers to Correspondents,” Sketches New and Old (1875)

Dave — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 21:41:59 +0000

A soiled baby, with a neglected nose, cannot be conscientiously regarded as a thing of beauty; and inasmuch as babyhood spans but three short years, no baby is competent to be a joy “forever.”

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
“Answers to Correspondents,” Sketches New and Old (1875)
(Source)

Ostensibly in response to a "Young Mother" who had written that her new baby was a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Shakespeare, William -- As You Like It, Act 2, sc. 7, l. 149ff (2.7.149-173) (1599)

Dave — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 23:32:54 +0000

JAQUES: [O]ne man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
As You Like It, Act 2, sc. 7, l. 149ff (2.7.149-173) (1599)
(Source)

Laing, R. D. -- The Politics of Experience, ch. 1 (1967)

Dave — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 22:31:03 +0000

Yet, if nothing else, each time a new baby is born there is a possibility of reprieve. Each child is a new being, a potential prophet, a new spiritual prince, a new spark of light precipitated into the outer darkness. Who are we to decide that it is hopeless?

R. D. Laing (1927-1989) Scottish psychiatrist [Ronald David Laing]
The Politics of Experience, ch. 1 (1967)
(Source)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Article (1872-11), “The Poet at the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 19:12:21 +0000

A sick man that gets talking about himself, a woman that gets talking about her baby, and an author that begins reading out of his own book, never know when to stop.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1872-11), “The Poet at the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)

Collected in The Poet at the Breakfast-Table, ch. 11 (1872).

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 9 (1966)

Dave — Thu, 13 May 2021 15:36:03 +0000

We are all born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us manage to remain greedy.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 9 (1966)
(Source)

Nash, Ogden -- “First Child … Second Child,” Versus (1949)

Dave — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 14:29:59 +0000

FIRST …
Let the rockets flash and the cannon thunder,
This child is a marvel, a matchless wonder.
A staggering child, a child astounding,
Dazzling, diaperless, dumbfounding,
Stupendous, miraculous, unsurpassed,
A child to stagger and flabbergast,
Bright as a button, sharp as a thorn,
And the only perfect one ever born.

SECOND
Arrived this evening at half-past nine.
Everybody is doing fine.
Is it a boy, or quite the reverse?
You can call in the morning and ask the nurse.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“First Child … Second Child,” Versus (1949)
(Source)

Kerr, Jean -- Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies

Dave — Wed, 27 May 2020 17:00:11 +0000

Now the thing about having a baby — and I can’t be the first person to have noticed this — is that thereafter you have it.

Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
(Source)

Herold, Don -- There Ought To Be A Law (1926)

Dave — Tue, 12 May 2020 20:45:41 +0000

Babies are such a nice way to start people.

Don Herold (1889-1966) American humorist, cartoonist, author
There Ought To Be A Law (1926)
(Source)

Beecher, Henry Ward -- Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, “Children” (1887) [ed. William Drysdale]

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 23:48:30 +0000

A babe is nothing but a bundle of possibilities.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, “Children” (1887) [ed. William Drysdale]
(Source)

Alcott, Louisa May -- Diary (1843-09-01)

Dave — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 22:31:21 +0000

Father asked us what was God’s noblest work. Anna said men, but I said babies. Men are often bad; babies never are.

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American writer
Diary (1843-09-01)
(Source)

Quoted in Edna D. Cheney, ed., Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and Journals (1889)

Greenwood, Kerry -- Phryne Fisher, Book 7, Ruddy Gore, ch. 10 (1995)

Dave — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:47:03 +0000

She passed the photograph to Dot, who liked babies. Phryne always considered that they resembled rabbits in the market when newborn, and uncommonly alcoholic drunks when a little older. Also, despite the pride of their mothers, she could never tell one baby from another, except that some were ugly and some were merely exceptionally plain.

Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher, Book 7, Ruddy Gore, ch. 10 (1995)
(Source)

Kingsolver, Barbara -- “Babyblues”

Dave — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 23:45:18 +0000

I want
the world
and it will not fit
in my mouth.

Barbara Kingsolver (b. 1955) American novelist, essayist, poet
“Babyblues”
(Source)

Butcher, Jim -- Fool Moon (2001)

Dave — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:42:01 +0000

There’s more magic in a baby’s first giggle than in any firestorm a wizard can conjure up, and don’t let anyone tell you any different.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Fool Moon (2001)

Bombeck, Erma -- Motherhood, the Second Oldest Profession, ch. 7 (1983)

Dave — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:57:16 +0000

I was a closet pacifier advocate. So were most of my friends. Unknown to our mothers, we owned thirty or forty of those little suckers that were placed strategically around the house so a cry could be silenced in less than thirty seconds. Even though bottles were boiled, rooms disinfected, and germs fought one on one, no one seemed to care where the pacifier had been.

Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) American humorist
Motherhood, the Second Oldest Profession, ch. 7 (1983)

Twain, Mark -- Letter (1876-09-01) to Annie Webster

Dave — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:28:15 +0000

A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Letter (1876-09-01) to Annie Webster
(Source)

This quote is widely cited, but I was unable to find a decent source for it online.

Sandburg, Carl -- Remembrance Rock, ch. 2 (1948)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) American poet, biographer
Remembrance Rock, ch. 2 (1948)
(Source)

Orville Brand "Bowbong" Windom speaking to his grandson, Raymond. Sometimes misquoted as "A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on."

While popular in its own right, the broader context of the quotation is also worth noting. Windom is recounting a story of a man criticized for sleeping through a play he was supposed to be reviewing, who said, "Sleep is an opinion." Windom continues:

And a baby is God's opinion that life should go on. A book that does nothing to you is dead. A baby, whether it does anything to you, represents life. If a bad fire should break out in this house and I had my choice of saving the library or the babies, I would save what is alive. Never will a time come when the most marvelous recent invention is as marvelous as a newborn baby. The finest of our precision watches, the most super-colossal of our supercargo planes, don’t compare with a newborn baby in the number and ingenuity of coils and springs, in the flow and change of chemical solutions, in timing devices and interrelated parts that are irreplaceable. A baby is very modern. Yet it is also the oldest of the ancients. A baby doesn’t know he is a hoary and venerable antique -- but he is. Before man learned how to make an alphabet, how to make a wheel, how to make a fire, he knew how to make a baby -- with the great help of woman, and his God and Maker.