WIST Quotations

Carlyle, Thomas -- The Life of Friedrich Schiller, Part 2 (1825)

Dave — Thu, 14 May 2026 16:21:01 +0000

The weakest living creature, by concentrating his powers on a single object, can accomplish something: the strongest, by dispensing his over many, may fail to accomplish anything. The drop, by continually falling, bores its passage through the hardest rock; the hasty torrent rushes over it with hideous uproar, and leaves no trace behind.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
The Life of Friedrich Schiller, Part 2 (1825)
(Source)

Einstein, Albert -- Essay (1953-05-23), “Aphorisms for Leo Baeck [Neun Aphorismen], No. 5, Essays Presented to Leo Baeck on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday (1954) [Einstein Archives 28-962]

Dave — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:21:12 +0000

The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.

[Die Majorität der Dummen ist unüberwindbar und für alle Zeiten gesichert. Der Schrecken ihrer Tyrannei ist indessen gemildert durch Mangel an Konsequenz.]

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Essay (1953-05-23), “Aphorisms for Leo Baeck [Neun Aphorismen], No. 5, Essays Presented to Leo Baeck on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday (1954) [Einstein Archives 28-962]
(Source)

(Source (German))

Leo Baeck (1873-1956) was a noted a German rabbi, scholar, and theologian.

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 8 (1.8), “Of Idleness [De l’Oisiveté]” (1572) [tr. Screech (1987)]

Dave — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 00:49:07 +0000

So too with our minds. If we do not keep them busy with some particular subject which can serve as a bridle to rein them in, they charge ungovernably about, ranging to and fro over the wastelands of our thoughts. Then, there is no madness, no raving lunacy, which such agitations do not bring forth.

[Ainsi est-il des esprits, si on ne les occupe à certain sujet, qui les bride & contraigne, ils se jettent desreglez, par-ci par là, dans le vague champ des imaginations. Et n’est follie ny réverie, qu’ils ne produisent en cette agitation.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 8 (1.8), “Of Idleness [De l’Oisiveté]” (1572) [tr. Screech (1987)]
(Source)

This essay was in the 1st ed. (1595); though the essay was revised for later editions, this text was not. The Essays themselves were begun to cure the melancholy and unrestrained thoughts caused by Montaigne's moving to his country estates, retiring from public life, and isolating himself in the château library for some time. This essay speaks to that experience.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

So is it of minds, which except they be busied about some subject, that may bridle and keepe them under, they will here and there wildely scatter themselves through the vaste field of imaginations. And there is no follie, or extravagant raving, they produce not in that agitation.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

So it is with Wits, which if not applyed to some certain Study that may fix and restrain them, run into a thousand Extravagancies, and are eternally roving here and there in the inextricable Labyrinth of restless Imagination. In which wild and irregular Agitation, there is no Folly, nor idle Fancy they do not light upon.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

So it is with our minds, which, if not applied to some particular subject to check and restrain them, rove about confusedly in the vague expanse of imagination. In which agitation there is no folly nor idle fancy which they do not create.
[tr. Friswell (1868)]

So it is with minds, which if not applied to some certain study that may fix and restrain them, run into a thousand extravagances, eternally roving here and there in the vague expanse of the imagination -- in which wild agitation there is no folly, nor idle fancy they do not light upon.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

So it is with our minds. If we do not apply them to some sort of study that will fix and restrain them, they will drift into a thousand extravagances, and will sternly run here and there in an inextricable labyrinth of restless imagination. In this wild and irregular agitation there is no folly nor idle fancy they do not touch upon.
[tr. Rector (1899)]

So it is with our minds: if we do not keep them occupied with a distinct subject, which curbs and restrains them, they run aimlessly to and fro, in the undefined field of imagination. And there is no folly or fantasy to which they do not give birth in this agitation.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

So it is with minds. Unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them, they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination. And there is no mad or idle fancy that they do not bring forth in this agitation.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

So it is with our minds. If we do not occupy them with some definite subject which curbs and restrains them, they rush wildly to and fro in the ill-defined field of the imagination. And there is no folly or fantasy that they will not produce in this restless state.
[tr. Cohen (1958)]

If [minds] have no object to busy themselves with, something to check and restrain them, they will run free and ramble through the open field of their imagination. And in this state of excitement, minds will come up with all kinds of foolishness and fantasies.
[tr. HyperEssays (2025)]

Wilson, Colin -- The God of the Labyrinth [The Hedonists] (1970)

Dave — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 19:58:43 +0000

Sex gives us a glimpse of a concentration of the mind that would make us godlike if we could command it in other spheres.

Colin Wilson (1931-2013) English existentialist philosopher, novelist
The God of the Labyrinth [The Hedonists] (1970)
(Source)

L'Engle, Madeleine -- A Circle of Quiet, ch. 1, sec. 3 (1972)

Dave — Tue, 14 May 2024 14:44:52 +0000

The concentration of a small child at play is analogous to the concentration of the artist of any discipline. In real play, which is real concentration, the child is not only outside time, he is outside himself. He has thrown himself completely into whatever it is that he is doing. A child playing a game, building a sand castle, painting a picture, is completely in what he is doing. His self-consciousness is gone; his consciousness is wholly focused outside himself.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
A Circle of Quiet, ch. 1, sec. 3 (1972)
(Source)

Brooks, Louise -- Lulu in Hollywood, ch. 5 “The Other Face of W. C. Fields” (1982)

Dave — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 16:38:14 +0000

Anyone who has achieved excellence in any form knows that it comes as a result of ceaseless concentration. Paying attention.

Louise "Lulu" Brooks (1906-1985) American film actress, dancer, writer
Lulu in Hollywood, ch. 5 “The Other Face of W. C. Fields” (1982)
(Source)

Writing of Mack Sennett.

Angelou, Maya -- The Heart of a Woman (1981)

Dave — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:38:23 +0000

If I wanted to write, I had to be willing to develop a kind of concentration found mostly in people awaiting execution.

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
The Heart of a Woman (1981)
(Source)

On realizing, after her first writers group reading, how casually she had taken her craft.

See Johnson.

Gauss, Carl Friedrich -- Letter to Heinrich Christian Schumacher (1833-04-02)

Dave — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 20:36:44 +0000

You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length.

[Sie wissen, dass ich langsam schreibe, allein dies kommt hauptsächlich daher, weil ich mir nie anders gefallen kann, als wenn in kleinem Raum möglichst viel ist, und kurz zu schreiben viel mehr Zeit kostet als lang.]

Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) German mathematician, geodesist, physicist [Carolus Fridericus Gauss]
Letter to Heinrich Christian Schumacher (1833-04-02)

The letter, in German, can be found in Christian August Friedrich Peters (ed.), Briefwechsel zwischen C. F. Gauss und H. C. Schumacher, Vol. 2 (1860).

The English translation source for this quotation is obscure. It is quoted, without citation, in H. Merschkowski, Ways of Thought of Great Mathematicians (1964) and, more recently, G. Simmons, Calculus Gems (1992), and is usually referenced to one of those two books.

Connolly, Cyril -- Enemies of Promise, Part 3, ch. 24 “Vale” (1938)

Dave — Tue, 03 May 2022 23:55:23 +0000

No education is worth having that does not teach the lesson of concentration on a task, however unattractive. These lessons, if not learnt early, will be learnt, if at all, with pain and grief in later life.

Cyril Connolly (1903-1974) English intellectual, literary critic and writer.
Enemies of Promise, Part 3, ch. 24 “Vale” (1938)
(Source)

Speaking as a personified Eton College, quoting one of the masters there.

Sarton, May -- Interview (1983)

Dave — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 17:27:03 +0000

I feel more alive when I’m writing than I do at any other time — except when I’m making love. Two things when you forget time, when nothing exists except the moment — the moment of the writing, the moment of love. That perfect concentration is bliss.

May Sarton (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
Interview (1983)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Power,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 2

Dave — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 20:28:55 +0000

Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, in short, in all management of human affairs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Power,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 2
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 8 (1.8), “Of Idleness [De l’Oisiveté]” (1572) [tr. Ives (1925)]

Dave — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 23:48:16 +0000

The mind that has no fixed goal loses itself; for as they say, to be everywhere is to be nowhere.

[L’âme qui n’a point de but établi, elle se perd: car comme on dit, c;est n’ètre en aucun lieu que d’être partout.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 8 (1.8), “Of Idleness [De l’Oisiveté]” (1572) [tr. Ives (1925)]
(Source)

This essay appeared in the 1st ed. (1580), and was modified in each of the following.

The proverb referenced is from Martial (ep. 7.73); it was paraphrased as indicated in the 1st ed., and then the actual Latin quotation ("Quisquis ubique habitat, Maxime, nusquam habitat") was added in the 2nd ed. (1588).

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The minde that hath no fixed bound, will easilie loose it selfe: For, as wee say, To be everie where, is to be no where.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

The Soul that has no establish’d Limit to circumscribe it, loses it self, as the Epigrammist says, He that lives every where, does no where live.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

The soul that has no established aim loses itself, for, as it is said -- "Quisquis ubique habitat, Maxime, nusquam habitat."
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

The soul that has no established limits to circumscribe itself, loses itself. As the epigrammatist says, "He that is everywhere is nowhere."
[tr. Rector (1899)]

The soul that has no fixed goal loses itself; for as they say, to be everywhere is to be nowhere.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

When the soul is without a definite aim, she gets lost; for, as they say, if you are everywhere you are nowhere.
[tr. Screech (1987)]

The mind that has no fixed aim loses itelf, for, as they say, to be everywhere is to be nowhere.
[tr. Cohen (1993)]

A soul with no fixed goal is sure to lose its way for, as they say, to be everywhere is to be nowhere.
[tr. HyperEssays (2023)]

Goethe, Johann von -- Torquato Tasso, Act 1, sc. 2, ll. 304-305 [Leonora] (1790) [tr. Ryder (1993)]

Dave — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 15:03:16 +0000

A talent forms itself in solitude,
A character amid the stream of life.

[Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille,
Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Torquato Tasso, Act 1, sc. 2, ll. 304-305 [Leonora] (1790) [tr. Ryder (1993)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

"A talent doth in stillness form itself -- / A character on life's unquiet stream." [tr. Des Voeux (1827)]
"Talents are nurtured best in solitude, -- / A character on life's tempestuous sea." [tr. Swanwick (1843)]
"Man's talent ripens in tranquility, / His character in battling with the world." [tr. Cartwright (1861)]
"A talent in tranquility is formed, / A character in the turbulence of affairs." [tr. Hamburger (20th C)]
"Talent develops in quiet places, / Character in the full current of human life."
Talents are best nurtured in solitude; / Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.
"Genius is formed in quiet, / Character in the stream of human life."

Asimov, Isaac -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 02:50:27 +0000

Thinking is the activity I love best, and writing to me is simply thinking through my fingers. I can write up to 18 hours a day. Typing 90 words a minute, I’ve done better than 50 pages a day. Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put an orgy in my office and I wouldn’t look up — well, maybe once or twice.

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) Russian-American author, polymath, biochemist
(Attributed)

Bell, Alexander Graham -- Interview, in Orison Swett Marden, How They Succeeded, ch. 2 (1901)

Dave — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 16:09:48 +0000

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) Scottish-American scientist, inventor, engineer
Interview, in Orison Swett Marden, How They Succeeded, ch. 2 (1901)
(Source)

Bell, Alexander Graham -- Interview, in Orison Swett Marden, How They Succeeded, ch. 2 (1901)

Dave — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 14:22:42 +0000

The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion. That intellectuality is more vigorous that has attained its strength gradually. It is the man who carefully advances step by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider — and progressively better able to grasp any theme or situation — persevering in what he knows to be practical, and concentrating his thought upon it, who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) Scottish-American scientist, inventor, engineer
Interview, in Orison Swett Marden, How They Succeeded, ch. 2 (1901)
(Source)

~Proverbs and Sayings -- Scottish Proverb

Dave — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:52:19 +0000

Many irons on the Fire, some must cool.

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Scottish Proverb
(Source)

In James Kelly, A Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs, M.93 (1721)

Rickover, Hyman -- Speech (1981-11-05), “Doing a Job,” Egleston Medal Award Dinner, Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York

Dave — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:46:06 +0000

The man in charge must concern himself with details. If he does not consider them important, neither will his subordinates. Yet “the devil is in the details.” It is hard and monotonous to pay attention to seemingly minor matters. In my work, I probably spend about ninety-nine percent of my time on what others may call petty details. Most managers would rather focus on lofty policy matters. But when the details are ignored, the project fails. No infusion of policy or lofty ideals can then correct the situation.

Hyman Rickover (1900-1986) Polish-American naval engineer, admiral [b. Chaim Gdala Rykower]
Speech (1981-11-05), “Doing a Job,” Egleston Medal Award Dinner, Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York
(Source)

Johnson, Samuel -- Comment (1777-09-19)

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

Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (1777-09-19)
(Source)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)