WIST Quotations

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 2, ch. 14 “Work” (1930)

Dave — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:23:44 +0000

The habit of viewing life as a whole is an essential part both of wisdom and of true morality, and is one of the things which ought to be encouraged in education. Consistent purpose is not enough to make life happy, but it is an almost indispensable condition of a happy life. And consistent purpose embodies itself mainly in work.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 2, ch. 14 “Work” (1930)
(Source)

Buechner, Frederick -- The Hungering Dark (1969)

Dave — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 22:38:24 +0000

Your calling is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

Frederick Buechner (b. 1926) American minister, author
The Hungering Dark (1969)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 10, Moving Pictures [Ginger] (1990)

Dave — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 16:45:11 +0000

You know what the greatest tragedy is in the whole world? It’s all the people who never find out what it is they really want to do or what it is they’re really good at. It’s all the sons who become blacksmiths because their fathers were blacksmiths. It’s all the people who could be really fantastic flute players who grow old and die without ever seeing a musical instrument, so they become bad plowmen instead. It’s all the people with talents who never even find out. Maybe they are never even born in a time when it’s even possible to find out.
It’s all the people who never get to know what it is that they can really be. It’s all the wasted chances.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 10, Moving Pictures [Ginger] (1990)
(Source)