WIST Quotations

Doctor Who (1963) -- 16×01 “The Ribos Operation,” Part 2 (1978-09-09 [w. Robert Holmes]

Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:28:55 +0000

ROMANA: You mean you didn’t believe his story?

THE DOCTOR: No.

ROMANA: But he had such an honest face.

THE DOCTOR: Romana, you can’t be a successful crook with a dishonest face, can you?

Doctor Who (1963-1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
16×01 “The Ribos Operation,” Part 2 (1978-09-09 [w. Robert Holmes]
(Source)

(Source (Video))

Martial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 11, epigram 66 (11.66) (AD 96) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

Dave — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 18:56:18 +0000

Informer, libel-monger, cut-throat, knave,
Pander, to every loathsome vice a slave,
Vacerra, it is marvellous that you
With these resources are a pauper, too.

[Et delator es et calumniator,
Et fraudator es et negotiator,
Et fellator es et lanista. Miror
Quare non habeas, Vacerra, nummos.]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 11, epigram 66 (11.66) (AD 96) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]
(Source)

"To Vacerra." (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Thou art a slanderer and delator,
False dealer, pimp, and fornicator:
Where such rare parts and trades are found,
I wonder much, thy purse does not abound.
[tr. Killigrew (1695)]

You an informer are; and a back-biter:
A common sharper; and a hackney writer:
A whore-master; and master of defence:
Jack of all trades; strange! that you want the pence!
[tr. Hay (1755), ep. 67]

Vile informer, slander's child!
Dealer, who hast still beguil'd!
Shield of war, and soul of arms,
How hast thou no golden charms?
[tr. Elphinston (1782), 6.1.39]

You are an informer, a calumniator, a forger, a secret agent, a slave to the unclean, and a trainer of gladiators. I wonder, Vacerra, why you have no money.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

You're a blackmailer, bruiser and liar,
A usurer, pimp and a cheat:
With methods so sound
I'm surprised that you've found
Gaining wealth an impossible feat.
[tr. Nixon (1911)]

You are an informer and a backbiter, and you are a cheat and a pimp, and you are a foul rascal and a master of gladiators. I wonder why you are not rich, Vacerra.
[tr. Ker (1919)]

You're an informer and tool of slander
And a notorious swindler and a pander
And a cock-sucker and a gangster and a ...
I can't make out, Vacerra, why you're poor.
[tr. Michie (1972)]

You're an informer and a slanderer, a swindler and a dealer, a sucker and a trainer. I wonder why you don't have any money, Vacerra.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

X is a sneak
and a liar,
And a fraud,
and a pimp,
And an arselicker who coaches others, and....
...I really can't work out why he isn't a Director yet.
[tr. Ynys-Mon (2015), "The Corporate Conundrum"]

How can the slippery son of a bitch,
With all his vices, not be rich?
[tr. Wills (2007)]

You're an informer, slanderer, cocksucker, swindler, panderer, and fight instructor. It seems funny, Vacerra, that you have no money.
[tr. McLean (2014)]

You're an informer and a lying witness,
a defrauder and a middleman,
a cocksucker and a provocateur.
Vacerra, I can't understand why you're not rich.
[tr. Nisbet (2015)]

Hammett, Dashiell -- Interview with Helen Herbert Foster, “House Burglary Poor Trade,” Brooklyn Eagle Magazine (Oct 1929)

Dave — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 23:49:48 +0000

Of all the men embezzling from their employers with whom I have had contact, I can’t remember a dozen who smoked, drank or had any of the vices in which bonding companies are so interested.

Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) American author, screenwriter, political activist
Interview with Helen Herbert Foster, “House Burglary Poor Trade,” Brooklyn Eagle Magazine (Oct 1929)
(Source)

Whedon, Joss -- Firefly, 1×01 “Serenity” (pilot) (20 Dec 2002)

Dave — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:47:04 +0000

ZOE: I know something ain’t right.

WASH: Sweetie, we’re crooks. If everything were right, we’d be in jail.

Joss Whedon (b. 1964) American screenwriter, author, producer [Joseph Hill Whedon]
Firefly, 1×01 “Serenity” (pilot) (20 Dec 2002)