WIST Quotations

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Adage,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-03-05)

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 20:16:43 +0000

ADAGE, n. A hoary-headed platitude that is kicked along the centuries until nothing is left of it but its clothes. A “saw” which has worn out its teeth on the human understanding.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Adage,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-03-05)
(Source)

Not collected in later books. Instead, in The Cynic's Word Book (1906), he changed it to "Boned wisdom for weak teeth."

Mencken, H. L. -- A Book of Burlesques, “The Jazz Webster” (1924)

Dave — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:05:18 +0000

PLATITUDE. An idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Book of Burlesques, “The Jazz Webster” (1924)
(Source)

See his definition of "epigram."

Variant:

Platitude — An idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true.
[Chrestomathy, ch. 30 "Sententiae" (1949)]

Mill, John Stuart -- On Liberty, ch. 2 (1859)

Dave — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 21:21:23 +0000

But, indeed, the dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution, is one of those pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into commonplaces, but which all experience refutes. History teems with instances of truth put down by persecution. If not suppressed forever, it may be thrown back for centuries.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 (1859)
(Source)

Fry, Stephen -- Moab Is My Washpot, “Joining In,” ch. 4 (1997)

Dave — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 20:40:42 +0000

It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue.

Stephen Fry (b. 1957) British actor, writer, comedian
Moab Is My Washpot, “Joining In,” ch. 4 (1997)
(Source)

Greenberg, Gary -- “The Stories We Tell About Drinking,” The New Yorker (2 Apr 2018)

Dave — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 16:51:07 +0000

Tyrants thrive on cliché, on language that declares itself beyond questioning.

Gary Greenberg (b. c. 1939) American psychotherapist, author
“The Stories We Tell About Drinking,” The New Yorker (2 Apr 2018)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- Lecture (1971), “Thinking and Moral Considerations,” Social Research (1971 Fall)

Dave — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 20:12:22 +0000

Clichés, stock phrases, adherence to conventional, standardized codes of expression and conduct have the socially recognized function of protecting us against reality, that is, against the claim on our thinking attention that all events and facts make by virtue of their existence.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Lecture (1971), “Thinking and Moral Considerations,” Social Research (1971 Fall)
(Source)

Referring to Adolf Eichmann's use of "cliché-ridden language" as a sign of his "thoughtlessness."

Collected in The Life of the Mind, Part 1 "Thinking," Introduction (1974).

Kennedy, John F. -- Commencement Address, Yale University (1962-06-11)

Dave — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:26:19 +0000

For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth — persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Commencement Address, Yale University (1962-06-11)
(Source)

Gingrich, Newt -- International Herald Tribune, Paris (1 Aug 1988)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 17:54:14 +0000

In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.

Newt Gingrich (b. 1943) American politician [Newton Leroy Gingrich]
International Herald Tribune, Paris (1 Aug 1988)