WIST Quotations

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- “Beppo,” st. 34 (1818)

Dave — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:16:06 +0000

Then he was faithful too, as well as amorous;
So that no sort of female could complain,
Although they’re now and then a little clamourous,
He never put the pretty souls in pain;
His heart was one of those which most enamour us,
Wax to receive, and marble to retain:
He was a lover of the good old school,
Who still become more constant as they cool.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824) English poet
“Beppo,” st. 34 (1818)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, sc. 4, l. 118ff (5.4.118-121) (c. 1590)

Dave — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:35:17 +0000

PROTEUS: ’Tis true. O heaven, were man
But constant, he were perfect; that one error
Fills him with faults, makes him run through all th’ sins;
Inconstancy falls off ere it begins.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, sc. 4, l. 118ff (5.4.118-121) (c. 1590)

Dickinson, Emily -- “Hope is the thing with feathers”

Dave — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 17:53:14 +0000

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet
“Hope is the thing with feathers”
(Source)

Taylor, Henry -- The Statesman: An Ironical Treatise on the Art of Succeeding, ch. 3 (1836)

Dave — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 00:21:38 +0000

In our judgment of men, we are to beware of giving any great importance to occasional acts. By acts of occasional virtue weak men endeavour to redeem themselves in their own estimation, vain men to exalt themselves in that of mankind.

Henry Taylor (1800–1886) English dramatist, poet, bureaucrat, man of letters
The Statesman: An Ironical Treatise on the Art of Succeeding, ch. 3 (1836)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 16, Letter 7, sec. 3 (16.7.3) (44 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1900), # 780]

Dave — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 00:58:49 +0000

No philosopher ever yet — and there has been a great deal written upon the subject — defined a mere change of plan as vacillation.

[Nemo doctus umquam (multa autem de hoc genere scripta sunt) mutationem consili inconstantiam dixit esse.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 16, Letter 7, sec. 3 (16.7.3) (44 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1900), # 780]
(Source)

Defending to his brother his change in plans, based on the changing political situation in Rome.

For quotation books, this is often given in a shorter form, without the parenthetical clause about much having been written on the subject (i.e., Nemo doctus unquam mutationem consilii inconstantiam dixit esse, or the shorter English translations below.)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

No philosopher, much as has been written on this subject, has ever yet affirmed that a change of plans is the same as inconsistency.
[tr. Jeans (1880), # 117]

No wise man ever called a change of plan inconsistency.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]

No well-informed person has declared a change of opinion to be inconstancy.
[ed. Benham (1907), 16.8]

No philosopher ever called a change of plan inconsistency, though there has been a good deal written on the point.
[tr. Winstedt (Loeb) (1913)]

Well, in all the many writings on this theme, no philosopher has ever equated a change of plan with lack of firmness.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968)]

Hugo, Victor -- Victor Hugo’s Intellectual Autobiography [Postscriptum de ma Vie], “Thoughts,” sec. 5 (1901) [tr. O’Rourke (1907)]

Dave — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 00:26:17 +0000

Change your opinions, keep to your principles;
change your leaves, keep intact your roots.

[Changez vos opinions, gardez vos principes;
changez vos feuilles, gardez intactes vos racines.]

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
Victor Hugo’s Intellectual Autobiography [Postscriptum de ma Vie], “Thoughts,” sec. 5 (1901) [tr. O’Rourke (1907)]
(Source)

(Source (French))

Jackson, Robert H. -- “The Task of Maintaining Our Liberties: The Role of the Judiciary,” speech, Boston (24 Aug 1953)

Dave — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:50:53 +0000

There is no such thing as an achieved liberty; like electricity, there can be no substantial storage and it must be generated as it is enjoyed, or the lights go out.

Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941–54), lawyer, jurist, politician
“The Task of Maintaining Our Liberties: The Role of the Judiciary,” speech, Boston (24 Aug 1953)
(Source)

Dinner address at the American Bar Association Diamond Jubilee dinner. Reprinted in the American Bar Association Journal (Nov 1953) [citation 39 A.B.A. J. 961 (1953)].

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 164ff (5.2.164) (1599)

Dave — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:55:14 +0000

HENRY: A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 164ff (5.2.164) (1599)
(Source)

Quoted by Walter Mondale as a eulogy for Hubert Humphrey.

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Letter (1818-05-09) to John Murray

Dave — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:44:37 +0000

Opinions are made to be changed — or how is truth to be got at?

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824) English poet
Letter (1818-05-09) to John Murray

Keynes, John Maynard -- A Tract on Monetary Reform, ch. 3 (1923)

Dave — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:36:23 +0000

But this long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task, if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us, that when the storm is long past, the ocean is flat again.

John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) English economist
A Tract on Monetary Reform, ch. 3 (1923)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 1, Letter 9, sec. 21 (1.9.21), to P. Lentulus Spinther (54 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1978), # 20]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Unchanging consistency of standpoint has never been considered a virtue in great statesmen.

[Numquam enim in praestantibus in re publica gubernanda viris laudata est in una sententia perpetua permansio.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 1, Letter 9, sec. 21 (1.9.21), to P. Lentulus Spinther (54 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1978), # 20]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Another translation:

Neither shall you ever finde, that wise men, and such as are expert in the affaires of the Common-wealth, praise him, that doth alwayes proceed, after one and the selfe same order.
[tr. Webbe (1620)]

In conformity to this notion, the most judicious reasoners on the great art of government, have universally condemned an inflexible perseverance in one uniform tenor of measures.
[tr. Melmoth (1753), 2.17]

Obstinately to hold to one unvarying opinion has never been accounted among the merits of those eminent men who have guided the helm of State.
[tr. Jeans (1880), 2.39]

For the persistence in the same view has never been regarded as a merit in men eminent for their guidance of the helm of state.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1899), # 152]

For never has an undeviating persistence in one opinion been reckoned as a merit in those distinguished men who have steered the ship of state.
[tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)]

Persistence in a single view has never been regarded as a merit in political leaders.
[Common translation, e.g.]