WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Macbeth, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 78ff (2.2.78-81) (1606)

Dave — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 22:38:20 +0000

MACBETH: Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 78ff (2.2.78-81) (1606)
(Source)

Alcott, Louisa May -- Little Women, Part 1, ch. 11 (1868)

Dave — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:39:51 +0000

Housekeeping ain’t no joke.

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American writer
Little Women, Part 1, ch. 11 (1868)
(Source)

Labeled as a saying of the family maid and cook, Hannah. The girls recognize its truth as they take over the housekeeping for the "ailing" Mrs. Marsh.

Diller, Phyllis -- Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints, ch. 1, epigraph (1966)

Dave — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 22:01:02 +0000

Cleaning your house
While your kids are still growing
Is like shoveling the walk
Before it stops snowing.

Phyllis Diller (1917-2012) American comedian, actor, author, musician
Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints, ch. 1, epigraph (1966)
(Source)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-11)

Dave — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 17:06:31 +0000

A sparkling house is a fine thing if the children aren’t robbed of their luster in keeping it that way.

Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-11)
(Source)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-10)

Dave — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 16:49:57 +0000

Housekeeping is like being caught in a revolving door.

Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1944-10)
(Source)

Macaulay, Rose -- “Some Problems of a Woman’s Life,” Good Housekeeping (Aug 1923)

Dave — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:23:08 +0000

A tradition has now for long been established that cooking and cleaning are woman’s work. As these occupations are among the most tiresome which humanity has to endure, this tradition is very unfortunate for women. But there it is; and the problem is how to get what is needful done as rapidly as possible, so that one can go and do something else, more lucrative, interesting, or amusing.
The general rule is that there must be something to eat at stated intervals, and the house or the flat must be about as clean as the houses and flats of one’s acquaintances. It sounds simple, but actually to secure both these results will often be found to take the entire time. All the time that there is. And that is so tragically little. None left over for reading, writing, walking, sitting in woods, playing games, making love, merely existing without effort. And ever at your back you hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near … and so the grave yawns, and at the end you will be able to say, not “I have warmed both hands before the fire of life,” but “I have kept house.”
The only solution of this problem which I can suggest — and I almost hesitate to do in these pages — is, Do not keep house. Let the house, or flat, go unkept. Let it go to the devil, and see what happens when it has gone there. At the worst, a house unkempt cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.

Rose Macaulay (1881-1958) English writer
“Some Problems of a Woman’s Life,” Good Housekeeping (Aug 1923)
(Source)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- Babylon 5, 3×20 “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” (14 Oct 1996)

Dave — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:24:29 +0000

DEXTER: You know, before I got married, Emily used to come by sometimes and help me clean out my apartment. Well, I asked her, “How come you’re so eager to help clean up my place when your place is just as bad?” She said, “Because cleaning up your place helps me to forget what a mess I’ve made of mine, and — when I sweep my floor, all I’ve done is sweep my floor. But, when I help you clean up your place, I am helping you.”

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 3×20 “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” (14 Oct 1996)