WIST Quotations

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1740 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 15:38:03 +0000

Thou hadst better eat salt with the Philosophers of Greece, than sugar with the Courtiers of Italy.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1740 ed.)
(Source)

Austen, Jane -- Persuasion, ch. 16 (1818)

Dave — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 17:34:00 +0000

Anne smiled and said, “My idea of good company, Mr. Elliot, is a company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what a call good company.”
“You are mistaken,” said he, gently, “that is not good company; that is the best.”

Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Persuasion, ch. 16 (1818)
(Source)

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 81 (1725)

Dave — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 16:12:19 +0000

Better be alone, than in bad Company.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 81 (1725)
(Source)

See also Clarke (1639), Herbert (1640), Washington (1747).

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, Preface (1820)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 14:39:49 +0000

With books, as with companions, it is of more consequence to know which to avoid, than which to chuse; for good books are as scarce as good companions, and in both instances, all that we can learn from bad ones, is, that so much time has been worse than thrown away.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, Preface (1820)
(Source)

Herbert, George -- Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 120 (1640 ed.)

Dave — Fri, 24 May 2024 14:05:28 +0000

Keepe good men company, and you shall be of the number.

George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 120 (1640 ed.)
(Source)

Moliere -- Le Misanthrope, Act 5, sc. 4 (1666) [tr. Wilbur (1954)]

Dave — Fri, 29 May 2020 21:38:15 +0000

ACASTE: The presence of those one loves is the true and perfect seasoning to all one’s pleasures.

[C’est un merveilleux assaisonnement aux plaisirs qu’on goûte que la présence des gens qu’on aime.]

Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 5, sc. 4 (1666) [tr. Wilbur (1954)]
(Source)

Reading a letter from Céliméne to Clitandre.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The presence of all those we love is an excellent relish to our pleasures.
[tr. Van Laun (1878)]

The presence of people we love gives a wonderful relish to pleasures.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]

It is a wonderful seasoning of all enjoyments to think of those we love.
[tr. Wormeley (1894)]

The society fo those we love is a wonderful relish to our pleasure.
[tr. Waller (1903)]

The presence of people we like gives a marvelous relish to our pleasures.
[tr. Page (1913)]

The presence of people one is really fond of is the best seasoning for social amusements.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]

A marvelous seasoning for the pleasures we enjoy is the presence of the persons we love.
[tr. Frame (1967)]

Machiavelli, Niccolo -- The Discourses on Livy, Book 3, ch. 34, § 2 (1517) [tr. Thomson (1883)]

Dave — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 00:35:04 +0000

We can have no better clue to a man’s character than the company he keeps.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) Italian politician, philosopher, political scientist
The Discourses on Livy, Book 3, ch. 34, § 2 (1517) [tr. Thomson (1883)]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

One can have no greater indication of a man than the company that he keeps.
[tr. Mansfield / Tarcov (1996)]

There can be no clearer indication about a man than the company he keeps.
[tr. Bondanella / Bondanella (1997)]

Lamb, Charles -- “Old Familiar Faces” (1798)

Dave — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 05:44:45 +0000

I have had playmates, I have had companions;
In my days of childhood, in my joyful school days —
All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.

Charles Lamb (1775-1834) Welsh-English essayist
“Old Familiar Faces” (1798)

Fielding, Henry -- “A Fragment of a Comment on Lord Bolingbroke’s Essays” (1755)

Dave — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 00:22:14 +0000

We are as liable to be corrupted by our books as by our companions.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
“A Fragment of a Comment on Lord Bolingbroke’s Essays” (1755)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Uses of Great Men,” Representative Men Lecture 1, Boston (1845-12-11)

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:43:53 +0000

The shield against the stingings of conscience is the universal practice of our contemporaries. Again, it is very easy to be as wise and good as your companions.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Uses of Great Men,” Representative Men Lecture 1, Boston (1845-12-11)
(Source)