WIST Quotations

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 101 (1647) [tr. Duff (1877)]

Dave — Thu, 21 May 2026 15:44:05 +0000

As many tastes as heads, and as different.

[Tantos son los gustos como los rostros, y tan varios.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 101 (1647) [tr. Duff (1877)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Other translations:

There are as many Opinions as Faces, and as great difference amongst the one as the other.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

So many men, so many tastes, all different.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

There are as many minds, as there are heads, and as different.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

Tastes are as abundant as faces and just as varied.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1951-12-20), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:43:54 +0000

As long as we are not actually destroyed, we can work to gain greater understanding of other peoples and to try to present to the peoples of the world the values of our own beliefs. We can do this by demonstrating our conviction that human life is worth preserving and that we are willing to help others to enjoy benefits of our civilization just as we have enjoyed it. (20 December 1961)

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1951-12-20), “My Day”
(Source)

Adams, John -- Letter (1820-07-08) to Simon Miller

Dave — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:10:41 +0000

My opinions indeed on Religious Subjects ought not to be of any consequence to any but myself.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1820-07-08) to Simon Miller
(Source)

Commager, Henry Steele -- Interview (1970-02) by John A. Garraty, “American Nationalism,” Interpreting American History: Conversations with Historians, Part 1, ch. 4 (1970)

Dave — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 19:32:53 +0000

Many of us have beliefs that aren’t really genuine; we just think they’re genuine. We think individualism is genuine. We think laissez faire is genuine. We don’t really want it. Big business bemoans government interference. It would be horrified if the government, for example, did away with patent laws.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Interview (1970-02) by John A. Garraty, “American Nationalism,” Interpreting American History: Conversations with Historians, Part 1, ch. 4 (1970)
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:35:22 +0000

You need repent none of your youthful vagaries. They may have been over the score on one side, just as those of age are probably over the score on the other. But they had a point; they not only befitted your age and expressed its attitude and passions, but they had a relation to what was outside of you, and implied criticisms on the existing state of things, which you need not allow to have been undeserved, because you now see that they were partial.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
(Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, ch. 2 (1881)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris

Dave — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 21:14:25 +0000

In a republic, to be successful we must learn to combine intensity of conviction with a broad tolerance of difference of conviction. Wide differences of opinion in matters of religious, political, and social belief must exist if conscience and intellect alike are not to be stunted, if there is to be room for healthy growth. Bitter internecine hatreds, based on such differences, are signs not of earnestness of belief but of that fanaticism which, whether religious or anti-religious, democratic or anti-democratic, is itself but a manifestation of the gloomy bigotry which has been the chief factor in the downfall of so many, many nations.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Dave — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 15:50:15 +0000

It’s impossible to be loyal to your family, your friends, your country, and your principles, all at the same time.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
(Source)

Lessing, Gotthold -- Nathan the Wise [Nathan der Weise], Act 4, sc. 4 [Templar] (1779) [tr. Corbett (1883)]

Dave — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 19:04:10 +0000

The superstition into which we’re born,
Even when we recognize it, loses not
Its power on us! Not all those are free
Who ridicule their chains.

[Der Aberglaub’, in dem wir aufgewachsen,
Verliert, auch wenn wir ihn erkennen, darum
Doch seine Macht nicht über uns. — Es sind
Nicht alle frei, die ihrer Ketten spotten.]

Gotthold Lessing (1729–1781) German playwright, philosopher, dramaturg, writer
Nathan the Wise [Nathan der Weise], Act 4, sc. 4 [Templar] (1779) [tr. Corbett (1883)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Other translations:

Yet the superstition
in which we have grown up, not therefore loses
when we detect it, all its influence on us.
Not all are free that can bemock their fetters.
[tr. Taylor (1790)]

The superstition in which we grew up,
Does not cease influencing us, e'en after
We have discover'd its absurdity.
Not all are free who do bemock their fetters.
[tr. Reich (1860)]

The superstition in which we were brought up never loses its power over us, even after we understand it.
[Source (1866)]

And yet the superstitions we have learned
From education, do not lose their power
When we have found them out; nor are all free
Whose judgment mocks the galling chains they wear.
[tr. Boylan (1878)]

The superstition in which we have grown up
Does not lose (even if we see through it)
Its power on us, on that account;
All are not free who mock their chains.
[tr. Jacks (1894)]

The superstitions of our early years,
E'en when we know them to be nothing more,
Lose not for that their hold upon our hearts;
Not all are free who ridicule their chains.
[tr. Maxwell (1917)]

The superstition in which we have grown up does not lose its power over us even for the reason that we recognize it as such. Not all are free who mock their chains.
[tr. Reinhardt (1950)]

The superstition in which we grew up,
Though we may recognize it, does not lose
Its power over us -- Not all are free
Who make mock of their chains.
[tr. Morgan (1955)]

Merely because we see the defects of the superstition we grew up in, it doesn't lose its hold upon our souls! Those men who mock their chains are not all free!
[tr. Ade (1972)]

Frye, Northrop -- The Great Code: The Bible and Literature, Introduction (1982)

Dave — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 17:54:48 +0000

Man lives, not directly or nakedly in nature like the animals, but within a mythological universe, a body of assumptions and beliefs developed from his existential concerns.

Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
The Great Code: The Bible and Literature, Introduction (1982)
(Source)

Tawney, R. H. -- Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, ch. 5 (1926)

Dave — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 19:28:40 +0000

The certainties of one age are the problems of the next.

R. H. Tawney (1880–1962) English writer, economist, historian, social critic [Richard Henry Tawney]
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, ch. 5 (1926)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Poetry and Imagination,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:58:16 +0000

A man’s action is only a picture-book of his creed.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Poetry and Imagination,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)
(Source)

Naylor, James Ball -- “The Final Test”

Dave — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 15:03:03 +0000

When all is said and all is done,
When all is lost or all is won —
In spite of musty theory,
Of purblind faith and vain conceit,
Of barren creed and sophistry:
In spite of all — success, defeat,
The Judge accords to worst and best,
Impartially, this final test:
What hast thou done with brawn and brain,
To help the world to lose or gain
An onward step? Canst reckon one
Unselfish, brave or noble deed,
That thou — nor counting cost! Hast done
To help a brother’s crying need?
Not what professed nor what believed —
But what good thing hast thou achieved?

James Ball Naylor (1860–1945) American physician, writer, poet, politician
“The Final Test”

Asimov, Isaac -- Nightfall (1990) [with Robert Silverberg]

Dave — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 16:53:53 +0000

So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You’d better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can’t rearrange the universe.

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) Russian-American author, polymath, biochemist
Nightfall (1990) [with Robert Silverberg]
(Source)

Hammarskjold, Dag -- Markings (1963)

Dave — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 16:10:38 +0000

Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your convictions.

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) Swedish diplomat, author, UN Secretary-General (1953–61)
Markings (1963)

Keyes, Daniel -- Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Dave — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 14:26:21 +0000

Now I understand one of the important reasons for going to college and getting an education is to learn that the things you’ve believed in all your life aren’t true, and that nothing is what it appears to be.

Daniel F. Keyes (1927–2014) American author
Flowers for Algernon (novel) (1966)

Lewis, Sinclair -- Babbitt, ch. 8 (1922)

Dave — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 13:56:14 +0000

The men leaned back on their heels, put their hands in their trouser-pockets, and proclaimed their views with the booming profundity of a prosperous male repeating a thoroughly hackneyed statement about a matter of which he knows nothing whatever.

Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) American novelist, playwright
Babbitt, ch. 8 (1922)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:27:38 +0000

To hold the same views at forty as we held at twenty is to have been stupefied for a score of years, and take rank, not as a prophet, but as an unteachable brat, well birched and none the wiser. It is as if a ship captain should sail to India from the Port of London; and having brought a chart of the Thames on deck at his first setting out, should obstinately use no other for the whole voyage.

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1896), “The World’s Need,” Custer and Other Poems

Dave — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:20:10 +0000

So many gods, so many creeds;
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1896), “The World’s Need,” Custer and Other Poems
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1813-05-31) to Richard Rush

Dave — Tue, 29 Jun 2004 11:55:05 +0000

Religion, a subject on which I have ever been most scrupulously reserved. I have considered it as a matter between every man and his maker, in which no other, & far less the public, had a right to intermeddle.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1813-05-31) to Richard Rush
(Source)

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 2, ch. 37 (2.37), “Of the Resemblance of Children to Their Fathers [De la ressemblance des enfans aux peres] (1579) [tr. Frame (1943)]

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

And there were never in the world two opinions alike, any more than two hairs or two grains. Their most universal quality is diversity.

[Et ne fut jamais au monde, deux opinions pareilles, non plus que deux poils, ou deux grains. Leur plus universelle qualité, c’est la diversité.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 37 (2.37), “Of the Resemblance of Children to Their Fathers [De la ressemblance des enfans aux peres] (1579) [tr. Frame (1943)]
(Source)

Appeared in the first (1580) edition, with revisions in succeeding editions. The specific mention of hairs and grains first appears in the 1595 edition.

(Source (French)). Other translations:

And never were there two opinions in the world alike, no more than two haires, or two graines. Diversitie is the most universall qualitie.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

There never were in the world two opinions more alike, than two hairs, or two grains; their most universal quality is diversity.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

And there never were, in the world, two opinions alike, no more than two hairs, or two grains: their most universal quality is diversity.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

And there were never in the world two opinions alike, any more than two hairs or two seeds. Their most universal quality is diversity.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

In the whole world there has never been two identical opinions, any more than two identical hairs or seeds. Their most universal characteristic is diversity. [tr. Screech (1987)]