WIST Quotations

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101

Dave — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:24:31 +0000

“Censure,” says a late ingenious author, “is the tax a man pays for being eminent.” It is a folly for an eminent man to think of escaping it, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution. There is no defense against reproach but obscurity; it is a kind of concomitant to greatness, as satires and invectives were an essential part of a Roman triumph.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)

The quotation is from Jonathan Swift.

~Other -- Moses Hadas (1900-1966), Professor, Columbia University (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 01:15:07 +0000

This book fills a much-needed gap.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Moses Hadas (1900-1966), Professor, Columbia University (Attributed)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Letter to Elizabeth Tucker (1832-02-01)

Dave — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 13:42:25 +0000

The best of all ways to make one’s reading valuable is to write about it, and so I hope my Cousin Elizabeth has a blank book where she keeps some record of her thoughts.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Letter to Elizabeth Tucker (1832-02-01)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 14:59:00 +0000

People see the wrongness in an idea much quicker that the rightness.

Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kepler, Johannes -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 13:12:02 +0000

I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) German astronomer
(Attributed)