WIST Quotations

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1995-11-07)

Dave — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 23:45:20 +0000

CALVIN: No one recognizes my hints to smother me with affection.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1995-11-07)

De Botton, Alain -- The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 3 “Consolation for Frustration” (2000)

Dave — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:55:15 +0000

But reassurance can be the cruellest antidote to anxiety. Our rosy predictions both leave the anxious unprepared for the worst, and unwittingly imply that it would be disastrous if the worst came to pass. Seneca more wisely asks us to consider that bad things probably will occur, but adds that they are unlikely ever to be as bad as we fear.

Alain de Botton (b. 1969) Swiss-British author
The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 3 “Consolation for Frustration” (2000)

Bentham, Jeremy -- Letter to Lady Hannah Elice (24 Oct 1831)

Dave — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:44:18 +0000

The way to be comfortable is to make others comfortable. The way to make others comfortable is to appear to love them. The way to appear to love them — is to love them in reality.

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) English jurist and philosopher
Letter to Lady Hannah Elice (24 Oct 1831)

Stevenson, Adlai -- Speech (1958-06-09), Commencement, Michigan State University, East Lansing

Dave — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:58:46 +0000

You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the contest between agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. For, in the vernacular, we Americans are suckers for good news.

Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1958-06-09), Commencement, Michigan State University, East Lansing

Herrick, Robert -- “God’s Time Must End Our Trouble,” Hesperides, # 252 (1648)

Dave — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:21:58 +0000

God doth not promise here to man that He
Will free him quickly from his misery;
But in His own time, and when He thinks fit,
Then He will give a happy end to it.

Robert Herrick (1591–1674) English poet
“God’s Time Must End Our Trouble,” Hesperides, # 252 (1648)

Milne, A. A. -- Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 3 “Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting” (1926)

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

“I have been Foolish and Deluded,” said Pooh, “and I am a Bear of No Brain at All.”
“You’re the Best Bear in All the World,” said Christopher Robin soothingly.

A. A. Milne (1882–1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 3 “Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting” (1926)