WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Richard III, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 28ff (1.1.28-31) (1592)

Dave — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:58:14 +0000

RICHARD: And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determinèd to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard III, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 28ff (1.1.28-31) (1592)
(Source)

Franklin, Benjamin -- (Spurious)

Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:34:47 +0000

War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Spurious)

Not found in the recorded works of Franklin, nor of Napoleon Bonaparte (to whom it is also attributed). The number of variants is an indicator this is an unconfirmed attribution:

"... who the enemy is" or "... who your enemy is."
"... you figure it out ..."

The term "bad guy" is an Americanism from the early 20th Century (the OED dates it to 1932; Dictionary.com to the early 1920s). But even if one uses the "enemy" variant, this sounds unlike either Franklin or Napoleon.

Despite his skeptical nature, Franklin did not speak out against propagandistic influences on war (or revolution). Indeed, he was a skilled, if subtle, propagandist himself. Nor did he object to "government" in general (he would have attacked "the Crown" or "Parliament") nor any war that the British government had declared.
Napoleon, as self-appointed Emperor of France (and war-maker, though most of his conquests were a result of other countries declaring war on him) would not have made the first half of this phrase, as he was the government. Nor, as one whose regime depended on propaganda, would he have suggested people decide for themselves who the true enemy is.
Neither man, as a rule, wrote their various aphorisms in the second person ("you"). At most they might have used "one"; more often, it would have been "a man" or some third person construction.

The quotation is occasionally attributed to Susan Sarandon. While she did use it (e.g., at a pro-Palestinian speech), she attributed it in turn to Napoleon.

Foglio, Phil -- Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess [Barry Heterodyne] (2012) [with Kaja Foglio]

Dave — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 16:07:19 +0000

I will accept that sometimes a villain has to die, but I’ll be damned if I’ll take free drinks for doing it.

Phil Foglio (b. 1956) American writer, cartoonist
Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess [Barry Heterodyne] (2012) [with Kaja Foglio]
(Source)

Montgomery, Lucy Maud -- Anne of the Island, ch. 12 [Mr. Harrison] (1915)

Dave — Thu, 11 Nov 2021 15:11:54 +0000

I’d write a story once in a while, but I wouldn’t pester editors with it. I’d write of people and places like I knew, and I’d make my characters talk everyday English; and I’d let the sun rise and set in the usual quiet way without much fuss over the fact. If I had to have villains at all, I’d give them a chance, Anne — I’d give them a chance. There are some terrible bad men in the world, I suppose, but you’d have to go a long piece to find them — though Mrs. Lynde believes we’re all bad. But most of us have got a little decency somewhere in us.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) Canadian author
Anne of the Island, ch. 12 [Mr. Harrison] (1915)
(Source)

Butcher, Jim -- Proven Guilty, ch. 41 (2006)

Dave — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 14:42:36 +0000

Most of the bad guys in the real world don’t know that they are bad guys. You don’t get a flashing warning sign that you’re about to damn yourself. It sneaks up on you when you aren’t looking.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Proven Guilty, ch. 41 (2006)
(Source)

Butcher, Jim -- White Night (2007)

Dave — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 13:24:02 +0000

The wacky thing about those bad guys is that you can’t count on them to be obvious. They forget to wax their mustaches and goatees, leave their horns at home, send their black hats to the dry cleaners. They’re funny like that.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
White Night (2007)

Butcher, Jim -- Cold Days, ch. 27 (2012)

Dave — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 12:16:48 +0000

No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens? It happens to people. Just people. They make questionable choices, for what might be very good reasons. They make choice after choice, and none of them is slaughtering roomfuls of saints, or murdering hundreds of baby seals, or rubber-room irrational. But it adds up. And then one day they look around and realized that they’re so far over the line that they can’t remember where it was.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Cold Days, ch. 27 (2012)
(Source)

Parker, Robert -- Crimson Joy (1988)

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

The thing about monsters is, you want to kill them until you meet them, and when you meet them they don’t seem monstrous, and killing them begins to seem unkind.

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) American writer
Crimson Joy (1988)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- Babylon 5, 3×13 “A Late Delivery from Avalon” (22 Apr 1996)

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

G’KAR: By G’Quon I can’t recall the last time I was in a fight like that! No moral ambiguity, no hopeless battle against ancient and overwhelming forces. They were the bad guys, as you say, and we were the good guys! And they made a very satisfying thump when they hit the floor!

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 3×13 “A Late Delivery from Avalon” (22 Apr 1996)