WIST Quotations

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-11-17), The Spectator, No. 225

Dave — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:39:07 +0000

Cunning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken for wit, and gravity for wisdom.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-11-17), The Spectator, No. 225
(Source)

Euripides -- Medea [Μήδεια], l. 319ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]

Dave — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:33:47 +0000

CREON: A woman of hot temper — and a man the same —
Is a less dangerous enemy than one quiet and clever.

[ΚΡΈΩΝ: Γυνὴ γὰρ ὀξύθυμος, ὡς δ᾽ αὔτως ἀνήρ,
ῥᾴων φυλάσσειν ἢ σιωπηλὸς σοφή.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 319ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]
(Source)

Expressing his mistrust of how reasonably, if tragically, Medea is presenting herself.

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

For 'gainst those
Of hasty tempers with more ease we guard.
Or men or women, than the silent foe
Who acts with prudence.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

A woman, or a man, whose fiery spirit
Flames out with anger, puts us on our guard,
More than the prudent calmness that conceals
Its hate in silence.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

For a woman passionate, yea and a man,
Is easier warded than a silent plotter.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

For cunning woman, and man likewise, is easier to guard against when quick-tempered than when taciturn.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

For a woman that is quick to anger, and a man likewise, is easier to guard against, than one that is crafty and keeps silence.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

The vehement-hearted woman -- yea, or man --
Is easier watched-for than the silent-cunning.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

A woman quick of wrath, aye, or a man,
Is easier watching than the cold and still.
[tr. Murray (1906)]

A sharp-tempered woman, or, for that matter, a man,
Is easier to deal with than the clever type
Who holds her tongue.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

A woman, just like a man, who is quick to wrath
Is easier guarded than one wise and silent.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

A hot-tempered woman -- and a hot-tempered man likewise -- is easier to guard against than a clever woman who keeps her own counsel.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]

A woman who is hot-tempered, and likewise a man, is easier to guard against than one who is clever and controls her tongue.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

You’re too silent now and whilst it is easy to protect oneself from a hot-headed man or woman, it is impossible to do so when the woman is scheming and silent.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

For a quick-tempered woman -- the same goes for a man --
is easier to guard against than a silent clever one.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

Passionate people, women as well as men,
are easier to protect oneself against,
than someone clever who keeps silent.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

It is easier to guard against a hot-headed woman, or a man, than against one who is scheming and silent.
[ed. Taplin (2016)]

A woman of sharp temper or indeed a man is easier to guard against than one who's clever and stays silent.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]

For a woman with a sharp thūmos, and likewise a man, is easier to guard against than a sophē one who is silent.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1742 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:03:55 +0000

What knowing Judgment, or what piercing Eye,
Can Man’s mysterious Maze of Falshood try?
Intriguing Man, of a suspicious Mind,
Man only knows the Cunning of his Kind;
With equal Wit can counter-work his Foes,
And Art with Art, and Fraud with Fraud oppose.
Then heed ye Fair, e’er you their Cunning prove,
And think of Treach’ry, while they talk of Love.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1742 ed.)
(Source)

Euripides -- Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 883ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]

Dave — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:58:23 +0000

AGAMEMNON:But women?
Women overpower men?

HECUBA:There is power
in numbers, and cunning makes us strong.

ἈΓΑΜΈΜΝΩΝ: καὶ πῶς γυναιξὶν ἀρσένων ἔσται κράτος;

ἙΚΆΒΗ: δεινὸν τὸ πλῆθος σὺν δόλῳ τε δύσμαχον.

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 883ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]
(Source)

Hecuba telling Agamemnon that she will rely on her fellow captive Trojan women to help exact her revenge on Polymestor.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

AGAMΕΜΝΟΝ. How shall weak women; over men prevail?
HECUBA. Numbers are strong; add stratagem, resistless.
[tr. Potter (1781)]

AGAMEMNON:How can the female sex
O'er men obtain a conquest?
HECUBA:Numbers strike
A foe with terror, and the wiles of women
Are hard to be withstood.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

AGAMEMNON: And how shall the victory over men be to women?
HECUBA: Numbers are powerful, with stratagem invincible.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]

AGAMEMNON: How? -- women gain the mastery over men?
HECUBA: Mighty are numbers: joined with craft, resistless.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

AGAMEMNON: How are women to master men?
HECUBA: Numbers are a fearful thing, and joined to craft a desperate foe.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]

AGAMEMNON: How can women win against men?
HECUBA: Who can stand against a tribe
A wild tribe of wise women?
[tr. McGuinness (2004)]

AGAMEMNON: How can you women overpower a man?
HECUBA: Enough of them would scare you soon enough and with cunning they're a force hard to resist.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]

AGAMEMNON: But how will the women be able to overcome the strength of men?
HEKABE: Numbers, when joined with treachery, can cause great terror.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]

AGAMEMNON:But how?
You are women. How will women defeat men?
HECUBA: There is unnerving strength in numbers, especially when
you add deceit.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1740 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:18:18 +0000

Tricks and Treachery are the Practice of Fools, that have not Wit enough to be honest.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1740 ed.)
(Source)

Borrowed without attribution from La Rochefoucauld (1665).

La Rochefoucauld, Francois -- Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶127 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶127]

Dave — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 00:58:28 +0000

The surest method of being deceived is to believe that one is cleverer than others.

[Le vrai moyen d’être trompé, c’est de se croire plus fin que les autres]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶127 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶127]
(Source)

Present in the 1st (1665) edition. Another 1665 variant:

On est fort sujet à être trompé quand on croit être plus fin que les autres.

[We are very liable to be deceived when we believe ourselves to be more subtle than others.]

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The sure way to be cheated is, to fancy ourselves more cunning than others.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶81; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶123; ed. Carvill (1835), ¶69]

The true method of being deceived is to think oneself more cunning than others.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶130]

The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶127]

The surest way to be deceived is to think one's self cleverer than one's neighbor.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶127]

The best way to be outwitted is to believe ourselves cleverer than others.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶127]

The surest way to be outwitted is to suppose yourself sharper than others.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶127]

The surest way to be taken in is to think oneself craftier than other people.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶127]

The best way to be deceived is to think ourselves more cunning than others.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶127]

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris

Dave — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 23:38:50 +0000

The individualism which finds its expression in the abuse of physical force is checked very early in the growth of civilization, and we of to-day should in our turn strive to shackle or destroy that individualism which triumphs by greed and cunning, which exploits the weak by craft instead of ruling them by brutality.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)

Euripides -- Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 290 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2015)]

Dave — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 16:41:06 +0000

I always fear less a dull man who is naturally strong
Than someone who is weak and clever.

[ἀεὶ γὰρ ἄνδρα σκαιὸν ἰσχυρὸν φύσει
ἧσσον δέδοικα τἀσθενοῦς τε καὶ σοφοῦ.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 290 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2015)]
(Source)

Barnes frag. 51, Musgrave frag. 11. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

By far less dangerous I esteem the fool
Endued with strength of body, than the man
Who's feeble and yet wise.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

I always fear a stupid if bodily powerful man less than one who is both weak and clever.
[tr. Collard, Hargreaves, Cropp (1995)]

Always I fear an unintelligent but naturally strong man less than a weak and clever one.
[tr. Stevens (2012)]

I fear less the powerful but stupid
than the weak and cunning.
[Source]

Child, Lydia Maria -- Letters from New-York, # 34, 1843-01 “Woman’s Rights” (1843)

Dave — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 15:11:17 +0000

None speak of the bravery, the might, or the intellect of Jesus; but the devil is always imagined as a being of acute intellect, political cunning, and the fiercest courage. These universal and instinctive tendencies of the human mind reveal much.

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) American abolitionist, activist, journalist, suffragist
Letters from New-York, # 34, 1843-01 “Woman’s Rights” (1843)
(Source)

Aristophanes -- The Birds, ll. 451-2 (414 BC) [tr. Rogers (1906)]

Dave — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 17:25:44 +0000

CHORUS: Full of wiles, full of guile, at all times, in all ways, are the children of Men.

[δολερὸν μὲν ἀεὶ κατὰ πάντα δὴ τρόπον / πέφυκεν ἄνθρωπος]

Aristophanes (c. 450-c. 388 BC) Athenian comedic playwright
The Birds, ll. 451-2 (414 BC) [tr. Rogers (1906)]
(Source)

Alt. trans.:

"Man naturally is deceitful, ever indeed, and always, in every one thing." [tr. Warter (1830)]
"Man is naturally deceitful ever, in every way!" [tr. Hickie (1853)]
"Man is a truly cunning creature." [abridged tr. O'Neill (1938)]
"A treacherous thing always in every way is human nature." [tr. Henderson (1998)]

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims (1823)

Dave — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 17:27:16 +0000

Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people’s weaknesses.

William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims (1823)

Addison, Joseph -- Cato, Act 4, sc. 4, l. 139ff (1713)

Dave — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:18:21 +0000

CATO: Content thyself to be obscurely good.
When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,
The post of honour is a private station.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Cato, Act 4, sc. 4, l. 139ff (1713)
(Source)

La Bruyere, Jean de -- The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 6 “Of Gifts of Fortune [Des Biens de Fortune],” § 52 (6.52) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]

Dave — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:30:34 +0000

There are but two ways of rising in the world: either by your own industry or by the folly of others.

[Il n’y a au monde que deux manières de s’élever, ou par sa propre industrie, ou par l’imbécillité des autres.]

Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 6 “Of Gifts of Fortune [Des Biens de Fortune],” § 52 (6.52) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

There is but two ways of rising in the World, by your own Industry, and another's Weakness.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

There are only two ways of rising in the World, by your own Industry, or by the Weakness of others.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

There are but two ways of rising in the World, by your own Industry, or the Weakness of others.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

There are only two ways of getting on in the world: either by one's own cunning efforts, or by other people's foolishness.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]

Johnson, Samuel -- The Rambler, #4 (31 Mar 1750)

Dave — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 19:39:15 +0000

That observation which is called knowledge of the world will be found much more frequently to make men cunning than good.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #4 (31 Mar 1750)
(Source)

La Rochefoucauld, Francois -- Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶126 (1665-1678) [tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶127]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

Tricks and Treachery are the practice of Fools that have not Wit enough to be Honest.

[Les finesses et les trahisons ne viennent que de manque d’habileté.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶126 (1665-1678) [tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶127]
(Source)

Present in the 1st (1665) edition. A 1665 variant reads:

Si on étoit toujours assez habile, on ne ferait jamais de finesses ni de trahisons.

[If one were sufficiently able, one would never do tricks or treasons]

Borrowed by Franklin (1740). (Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Cunning and treachery proceed from want of capacity.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶80; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶122]

Cunning and treachery proceed often from want of capacity.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶68]

Treacheries and acts of artifice only originate in the want of ability.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶129]

Cunning and treachery are the offspring of incapacity.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶126]

Trickery and treachery are a mark of stupidity.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶126]

Guile and treachery are merely the result of want of talent.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶126]

Cunning and treachery come solely from a lack of skill.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶126]

Tricks and treachery are merely proof of lack of skill.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶126]

Intrigues and treasons simply come from lack of adroitness.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶126]

Cunning and treachery are given rise to by mere incompetence.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]

Bacon, Francis -- “Of Cunning,” Essays, No. 22 (1625)

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

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Cunning,” Essays, No. 22 (1625)
(Source)

Doctor Who (1963) -- 05×02 “The Abominable Snowmen,” Part 4 (1967-10-21) [w. Meryn Haisman, Henry Lincoln]

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

JAMIE: Have you thought up some clever plan, Doctor?

THE DOCTOR: Yes, Jamie, I believe I have.

JAMIE: What are you going to do?

THE DOCTOR: Bung a rock at it.

Doctor Who (1963-1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
05×02 “The Abominable Snowmen,” Part 4 (1967-10-21) [w. Meryn Haisman, Henry Lincoln]
(Source)

(Source (Video)). Note that the original video for this episode has been lost; it recreated in animated form in 2022, using audio-only recordings.

La Bruyere, Jean de -- The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 8 “Of the Court [De la Cour],” § 85 (8.85) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]

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

It’s a sign of considerable shrewdness to be able to make others think one is not exceptionally shrewd.

[C’est avoir fait un grand pas dans la finesse, que de faire penser de soi que l’on n’est que médiocrement fin.]

Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 8 “Of the Court [De la Cour],” § 85 (8.85) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

He is far gone in politicks, who begins to find he is but indifferently politick.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

He is far gone in Cunning, who makes other People believe he is but indifferently Cunning.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

He is thorough-paced in Cunning, who makes others believe that he is no Conjurer.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

A man must be very shrewd to make other people believe that he is not so sharp after all.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

A man has made great progress in cunning when he does not seem too clever to others.
[Common Translation, e.g.]