WIST Quotations

La Rochefoucauld, Francois -- Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶554 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶524]

Dave — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 22:50:27 +0000

We only criticize ourselves in order to win the praise of others.

[On ne se blâme que pour être loué.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶554 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶524]
(Source)

This maxim came from the 6th ed. (1693), published by Barbin more than twelve years after La Rochefoucauld's death. It is not present in many collections.

Compare to ¶149 and ¶327.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

We blame ourselves only to extort praise.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶363]

When we seem to blame ourselves; we mean only to extort praise.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶318]

Man only blames himself in order that he may be praised.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), 1693 ed.]

We only blame ourselves in order to be praised.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶554]

Chalmers, Thomas -- Journal (1810-05-10)

Dave — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 01:44:32 +0000

Guard against that vanity which courts a compliment, or is fed by it.

Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) Scottish minister, theologian, political economist, church leader
Journal (1810-05-10)
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1923-03-11), “Weekly Article: We Need More Fred Stones” [No. 13]

Dave — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 16:06:14 +0000

Hunt out and talk about the good that is in the other fellow’s church, not the bad, and you will do away with all this religious hatred you hear so much of nowadays.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1923-03-11), “Weekly Article: We Need More Fred Stones” [No. 13]
(Source)

Collected in The Illiterate Digest, "What We Need Is More Fred Stones" (1924),

Maugham, W. Somerset -- Of Human Bondage, ch. 50 (1915)

Dave — Tue, 11 May 2021 19:56:10 +0000

People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise.

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English novelist and playwright [William Somerset Maugham]
Of Human Bondage, ch. 50 (1915)
(Source)

Randolph, John (Roanoke) -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 19:27:09 +0000

He is a man of splendid abilities, but utterly corrupt. He shines and stinks like rotten mackerel by moonlight.

John Randolph of Roanoke (1773-1833) American politician, diplomat
(Attributed)

Comment on Edward Livingson, quoted in W. Cabell Bruce, John Randolph of Roanoke, Vol. 2 (1923). Sometimes incorrectly given as an attack on Henry Clay.

Parker, Robert -- Taming A Sea-Horse (1986)

Dave — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 17:20:24 +0000

I took a sip. It went surprisingly well with the veal. On the other hand, the fourth margarita goes surprisingly well with everything.

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) American writer
Taming A Sea-Horse (1986)

Poole, Mary Pettibone -- A Glass Eye at a Keyhole, “Made in Manhattan” (1938)

Dave — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:54:56 +0000

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

Mary Pettibone Poole (fl. 1930s) American aphorist
A Glass Eye at a Keyhole, “Made in Manhattan” (1938)
(Source)

~Other -- Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (1872-1956) (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:52:20 +0000

After sitting next to Mr. Gladstone I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (1872-1956) (Attributed)

Sheen, Fulton -- Life Is Worth Living, s.5 (1957)

Dave — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 17:10:47 +0000

To tell a woman who is forty, “You look like sixteen,” is baloney. The blarney way of saying it is: “Tell me how old you are, I should like to know at what age women are most beautiful.”

Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) American Catholic archbishop, preacher, televangelist
Life Is Worth Living, s.5 (1957)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,” l. 205, footnote (1809)

Dave — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:45:44 +0000

“Thalaba,” Mr. Southey’s second poem, is written in open defiance of precedent and poetry. Mr. S. wished to produce something novel, and succeeded to a miracle. “Joan of Arc” was marvelous enough, but “Thalaba” was one of those poems “which,” in the words of Porson, “will be read when Homer and Virgil are forgotten, but — not till then.”

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
“English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,” l. 205, footnote (1809)
(Source)

When one of his earlier works was harshly criticized in the Edinburgh Review, Byron wrote this poem satirizing such critics (and the poetry they like). He refers to Robert Southey's "Thalaba," bringing in a phrase used by classical scholar Richard Porson to refer to Southey's poem "Madoc". Except ...

... Porson doesn't include the "but not till then" phrase in his original comment. A man of subtle but biting humor, it seems likely he intended that as a subversive but deniable reading of "when Homer and Virgil are forgotten". Believing that, multiple writers of the time in turn criticized Byron for crudely spelling out Porson's bon mot (examples: Timbs (1862), Powell/Rogers (1903)).