WIST Quotations

Howell, James -- Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659) [compiler]

Dave — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:41:41 +0000

If the Sky fall we shall have Larks.

James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)

See also Heywood (1546). The same page contains a variant:

When the Sky falls we shall catch Larks.

Euripides -- Medea [Μήδεια], l. 78ff (431 BC) [tr. Podlecki (1989)]

Dave — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 17:12:47 +0000

NURSE: We’re ruined, then, if we must add a new
Evil to the old one we’ve hardly saved ourselves from.

[ΤΡΟΦΌΣ: Ἀπωλόμεσθ᾽ ἄρ᾽, εἰ κακὸν προσοίσομεν
νέον παλαιῷ, πρὶν τόδ᾽ ἐξηντληκέναι.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 78ff (431 BC) [tr. Podlecki (1989)]
(Source)

Reacting to the news that King Creon is going to banish Medea and her sons, on top of the existing problem of Medea's broken marriage and fraying sanity. (Turns out, she's not wrong.)

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

We shall be plung'd
In utter ruin, if to our old woes
Yet unexhausted, any fresh we add.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

Rain would follow, to the former ill
If this were added e'er the first subsides.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

We are undone then if to the first ill,
Ere yet it be drained dry, we add a new.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

Undone, it seems, are we, if to old woes fresh ones we add, ere we have drained the former to the dregs.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

We perish then, if to the old we shall add a new ill, before the former be exhausted.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

We are undone then, if we add fresh ill
To old, ere lightened be our ship of this.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

But this is ruin! New waves breaking in
To wreck us, ere we are righted from the old!
[tr. Murray (1906)]

It’s black indeed for us, when we add new to old
Sorrows before even the present sky has cleared.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

Then we're lost, if we must add new trouble
To old, before we're rid of what we had already.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

We are done for, it seems, if we add this new trouble to our old ones before we've weathered those.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]

That’s scuppered us, then, if a new wave is going to crash over us before we’ve managed to bale out the old one!
[tr. Davie (1996)]

Well then, we are finished, old man!
We are destroyed! New troubles arrive even before the old ones have gone!
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

It’s all over for us, if we take on new troubles
on top of the old, before they have been drained out.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

If we must add these brand-new troubles
to our old ones, before we’ve dealt with them,
then we’re finished.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

Then we are lost, if we must add this new evil
before we've drained the old one to the dregs.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]

That's it, we're doomed. New troubles are poured in our cup
Faster than we can drink the old ones to the dregs.
[tr. Hill (2025)]

Then we are ruined, if we add new trouble [kakon] to old, before we have bailed out the latter.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois

Dave — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 23:46:34 +0000

One of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire world, with the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the beautiful and the helpless were remorsely devoured by the shoreless sea. This, the most fearful tragedy that the imagination of ignorant priests ever conceived, was the act, not of a devil, but of a god, so-called, whom men ignorantly worship unto this day.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois
(Source)

First given on the 135th birthday of Thomas Paine. Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).

Edda, Poetic -- Völuspá [Prophecy of the Völva; Prophecy of the Seeress], st. 45 (AD 961) [tr. Bellows (1936)]

Dave — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 16:39:44 +0000

Brothers shall fight
and fell each other,
And sisters’ sons
shall kinship stain;
Hard is it on earth,
with mighty whoredom;
Axe-time, sword-time,
shields are sundered,
Wind-time, wolf-time,
ere the world falls;
Nor ever shall
each other spare.

[Brœðr munu berjask
ok at bǫnum verða,
munu systrungar
sifjum spilla;
hart er í heimi,
hórdómr mikill;
skeggǫld, skálmǫld
— skildir ru klofnir —
vindǫld, vargǫld,
áðr verǫld steypisk;
mun engi maðr
ǫðrum þyrma.]

Poetic Edda (800-1100) Old Norse anonymous collection of poems
Völuspá [Prophecy of the Völva; Prophecy of the Seeress], st. 45 (AD 961) [tr. Bellows (1936)]
(Source)

The time of Ragnarok. Narrated by Heiðr.

(Source (Old Norse)). Other translations:

Brethren will fight and slay each other;
Kindred will spurn their consanguinity;
Hard will be the world:
Many the adulteries.
A bearded age: an age of swords:
Shields will be cloven.
An age of winds; an age of wolves.
Till the world shall perish
There will not be one that will spare another.
[tr. Turner (1836), st. 44]

Brothers shall fight, and slay each other; cousins shall kinship violate. The earth resounds, the giantesses flee; no man will another spare.
Hard is it in the world, great whoredom, an axe age, a sword age, shields shall be cloven, a wind age, a wolf age, ere the world sinks.
[tr. Thorpe (1866)]; st. 45-46]

Brother will fight brother and be his slayer,
sister's sons will violate the kinship-bond;
hard it is in the world, whoredom abounds,
axe-age, sword-age, shields are cleft asunder,
wind-age, wolf-age, before the world plunges headlong
no man will spare another.
[tr. Larrington (2014), st. 45]

Brothers will battle and slay each other,
cousins will break the bonds of kin;
it’s harsh in the world, great whoredom,
axe-age, sword-age -- shields are cloven --
wind-age, wolf-age, before the world collapses;
no one will show mercy to another.
[tr. Pettit (2023); st. 44]

Mackay, Charles -- Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “Modern Prophecies” (1841)

Dave — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 14:41:00 +0000

During seasons of great pestilence, men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come. Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “Modern Prophecies” (1841)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love

Dave — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 18:05:48 +0000

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)

Sometimes called "The Man Worth While." Collected again in Poems of Cheer (1910).

Euripides -- Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 1357ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]

Dave — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 23:24:54 +0000

CHORUS: Goodbye! Good luck! If you can, be lucky, steer clear of disaster. That’s happiness for mortals.

[ΧΟΡΟΣ: χαίρετε: χαίρειν δ᾽ ὅστις δύναται
καὶ ξυντυχίᾳ μή τινι κάμνει
θνητῶν, εὐδαίμονα πράσσει.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 1357ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]
(Source)

Closing lines.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Farewell. And sure the man
To whom this wish is granted, he who feels
No pressure of calamity, is blest.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Farewell! Any mortal who is able to fare well, and is not worn down by any misfortune, achieves happiness.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Farewell; but whosoever of mortals is able to fare well, and bends not under some misfortune, fares happily.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

Farewell! Ah, whosoe'er may know this blessing,
To fare well, never crushed 'neath ills oppressing,
Alone of mortals tastes abiding bliss.
[tr. Way (1896)]

Farewell, farewell! -- But he who can so fare,
And stumbleth not on mischief anywhere,
Blessèd on earth is he!
[tr. Murray (1905)]

Farewell! truly that mortal's is a happy lot, who can thus fare, unafflicted bv any woe.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]

Good bye. Blessed is the human who can live happily without the weight of suffering.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]

Farewell. Any mortal who can indeed live well
without being ground down by misfortune,
that man will find his happiness.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]

Carlyle, Thomas -- Essay (1850-02-01), “The Present Time,” Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. 1

Dave — Thu, 16 May 2024 14:29:13 +0000

But in the days that are now passing over us, even fools are arrested to ask the meaning of them; few of the generations of men have seen more impressive days. Days of endless calamity, disruption, dislocation, confusion worse confounded: if they are not days of endless hope too, then they are days of utter despair. For it is not a small hope that will suffice, the ruin being clearly, either in action or in prospect, universal. There must be a new world, if there is to be any world at all!

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1850-02-01), “The Present Time,” Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. 1
(Source)

Lewis, C.S. -- (Spurious)

Dave — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 06:12:32 +0000

When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
(Spurious)

Popularly attributed to Lewis, but no citation is ever given, and it is not found in searches of his written works.

Shakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 1ff (3.2.1-11) (1606)

Dave — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 18:15:36 +0000

LEAR: Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks.
You sulph’rous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head. And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the thick rotundity o’ th’ world.
Crack nature’s molds, all germens spill at once
That makes ingrateful man.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 1ff (3.2.1-11) (1606)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 109ff (1.2.109-121) (1606)

Dave — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 19:20:54 +0000

GLOUCESTER: These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us. Though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourged by the sequent effects. Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide; in cities, mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond cracked ’twixt son and father. This villain of mine comes under the prediction: there’s son against father. The King falls from bias of nature: there’s father against child. We have seen the best of our time. Machinations, hollowness, treachery, and all ruinous disorders follow us disquietly to our graves.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 109ff (1.2.109-121) (1606)
(Source)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Conversations of Lord Byron with Thomas Medwin, Vol. 2 (1832)

Dave — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 14:23:34 +0000

Who knows whether, when a comet shall approach this globe to destroy it, as it often has been and will be destroyed, men will not tear rocks from their foundations by means of steam, and hurl mountains, as the giants are said to have done, against the flaming mass? — and then we shall have traditions of Titans again, and of wars with Heaven.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Conversations of Lord Byron with Thomas Medwin, Vol. 2 (1832)
(Source)

Doctorow, Cory -- “Social Quitting,” Pluralistic blog (8 Jan 2023)

Dave — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 04:03:27 +0000

“Dystopia” isn’t when things go wrong. Assuming nothing will go wrong doesn’t make you an optimist, it makes you an asshole. A dangerous asshole. Assuming nothing will go wrong is why they didn’t put enough lifeboats on the Titanic. Dystopia isn’t where things go wrong. Dystopia is when things go wrong, and nothing can be done about it.

Cory Doctorow (b. 1971) Canadian-British blogger, journalist, activist, author
“Social Quitting,” Pluralistic blog (8 Jan 2023)
(Source)

Reposted on Twitter (8 Jan 2023).

Burke, Edmund -- “On Conciliation With America,” speech, House of Commons (22 Mar 1775)

Dave — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 17:07:01 +0000

Public calamity is a mighty leveler.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
“On Conciliation With America,” speech, House of Commons (22 Mar 1775)
(Source)

Diamond, Jared -- “Choosing Success,” interview by Catherine Sepp, National Review (30 Jun 2005)

Dave — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 18:48:31 +0000

A blueprint for disaster in any society is when the elite are capable of insulating themselves.

Jared Diamond (b. 1937) American geographer, historian, ornithologist, author
“Choosing Success,” interview by Catherine Sepp, National Review (30 Jun 2005)
(Source)

Herbert, Frank -- Dune, Book 3 “The Prophet” (1965)

Dave — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 15:58:24 +0000

When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movements become headlong — faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget the precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it’s too late.

Frank Herbert (1920-1986) American writer
Dune, Book 3 “The Prophet” (1965)
(Source)

Jessica, quoting a Bene Gesserit proverb.

In Appendix 2, there is reference to another Bene Gesserit teaching: "When religion and politics ride the same cart, when that cart is driven by a living holy man (baraka), nothing can stand in their path."

Zweig, Stefan -- The World of Yesterday [Die Welt von Gestern], Preface (1942)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:22:09 +0000

All the livid steeds of the Apocalypse have stormed through my life — revolution and famine, inflation and terror, epidemics and emigration. I have seen the great mass ideologies grow and spread before my eyes — Fascism in Italy, National Socialism in Germany, Bolshevism in Russia, and above all else that arch-plague nationalism which has poisoned the flower of our European culture.

Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, biographer
The World of Yesterday [Die Welt von Gestern], Preface (1942)
(Source)

Alternate translation [Sonnenfeld]:

All the pale horses of the apocalypse have stormed through my life, revolution, starvation, devaluation of currency and terror, epidemics, emigration; I have seen the great ideologies of the masses grow and spread out before my eyes. Fascism in Italy, National Socialism in Germany, Bolshevism in Russia, and, above all, that arch-pestilence, nationalism, which poisoned our flourishing European culture.

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Laelius De Amicitia [Laelius on Friendship], ch. 6 / sec. 22 (44 BC) [tr. Falconer (1923)]

Dave — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 17:22:34 +0000

For friendship adds a brighter radiance to prosperity and lessens the burden of adversity by dividing and sharing it.

[Nam et secundas res splendidiores facit amicitia et adversas partiens communicansque leviores.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Laelius De Amicitia [Laelius on Friendship], ch. 6 / sec. 22 (44 BC) [tr. Falconer (1923)]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

"Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief." [tr. Addison (1711), Spectator, #68 (18 May 1711)]
"For prosperity, friendship renders more brilliant, and adversity more supportable, by dividing and communicating it." [tr. Edmonds (1871)]
"Such friendship at once enhances the lustre of prosperity, and by dividing and sharing adversity lessens its burden." [tr. Peabody (1887)]
"For friendship both makes favourable things more splendid and disasters lighter, by splitting and sharing them." [Source]

Jacobs, Joseph -- English Fairy Tales, “Henny-Penny” (1890)

Dave — Thu, 28 May 2020 20:57:20 +0000

So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy all went to tell the king the sky was a-falling.

Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916) Australian folklorist, literary critic, historian writer
English Fairy Tales, “Henny-Penny” (1890)
(Source)

Kempton, Murray -- “The Genius of Mussolini,” New York Review of Books (7 Oct 1982)

Dave — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 21:44:25 +0000

Every now and then, in the course of great events, the elements of tradition and innovation ally themselves and each one’s weakness supplements the other and together they achieve the perfect debacle.

Murray Kempton (1917-1997) American journalist.
“The Genius of Mussolini,” New York Review of Books (7 Oct 1982)
(Source)

Reprinted in Rebellions, Perversities, and Main Events (1994).

Forster, E. M. -- Letter to Malcolm Darling (6 Nov 1914)

Dave — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 15:45:18 +0000

The newspapers still talk about glory but the average man, thank God, has got rid of that illusion. It is a damned bore, with a stalemate as the most probable outcome, but one has to see it through, and see it through with the knowledge that whichever side wins, civilisation in Europe will be pipped for the next 30 years. Don’t indulge in Romance here, Malcolm, or suppose that an era of jolly little nationalities is dawning. We shall be much too much occupied with pestilence and poverty to reconstruct.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
Letter to Malcolm Darling (6 Nov 1914)
(Source)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Dave — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 21:26:16 +0000

I distrust Great Men. They produce a desert of uniformity around them and often a pool of blood too, and I always feel a little man’s pleasure when they come a cropper.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Post, alt.fan.pratchett (26 Aug 1998)

Dave — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 17:00:12 +0000

Eight years involved with the nuclear industry have taught me that when nothing can possible go wrong and every avenue has been covered, then is the time to buy a house on the next continent.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Post, alt.fan.pratchett (26 Aug 1998)
(Source)

Stross, Charles -- The Nightmare Stacks (2016)

Dave — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 01:08:46 +0000

Y2K was a real end-of-civilization problem. And the people who could deal with it treated it as such, working flat-out on disaster management for the last year-long countdown. With the result that the end-of-the-world scenario didn’t happen … causing everyone not directly involved to conclude that it was a false alarm.

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
The Nightmare Stacks (2016)

Ouida -- Under Two Flags, ch. 1 (1867)

Dave — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:13:33 +0000

It is the trifles of life that are its bores, after all. Most men can meet ruin calmly, for instance, or laugh when they lie in a ditch with their own knee-joint and their hunter’s spine broken over the double post and rails: it is the mud that has choked up your horn just when you wanted to rally the pack; it’s the whip who carries you off to a division just when you’ve sat down to your turbot; it’s the ten seconds by which you miss the train; it’s the dust that gets in your eyes as you go down to Epsom; it’s the pretty little rose note that went by accident to your house instead of your club, and raised a storm from madame; it’s the dog that always will run wild into the birds; it’s the cook who always will season the white soup wrong — it is these that are the bores of life, and that try the temper of your philosophy.

Ouida (1839-1908) English novelist [pseud. of Maria Louise Ramé]
Under Two Flags, ch. 1 (1867)
(Source)

Kipling, Rudyard -- “If–” st. 2 (1910)

Dave — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 21:38:57 +0000

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same ….

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“If–” st. 2 (1910)
(Source)

Miller, Walter M. -- “The Will” (1953)

Dave — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 21:27:51 +0000

There is a difference between tragedy and blind brutal calamity. Tragedy has meaning, and there is dignity in it. Tragedy stands with its shoulders stiff and proud. But there is no meaning, no dignity, no fulfillment, in the death of a child.

Walter M. Miller Jr. (1923-1996) American writer
“The Will” (1953)

Miller, Walter M. -- A Canticle for Leibowitz, “Fiat Homo,” ch. 6 (1959)

Dave — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 23:01:04 +0000

It was said that God, in order to test mankind which had become swelled with pride as in the time of Noah, had commanded the wise men of that age, among them the Blessed Leibowitz, to devise great engines of war such as had never before been upon the Earth, weapons of such might that they contained the very fires of Hell, and that God had suffered these magi to place the weapons in the hands of princes, and to say to each prince: “Only because the enemies have such a thing have we devised this for thee, in order that they may know that thou hast it also, and fear to strike. See to it, m’Lord, that thou fearest them as much as they shall now fear thee, that none may unleash this dread thing which we have wrought.” But the princes, putting the words of their wise men to naught, thought each to himself: If I but strike quickly enough, and in secret, I shall destroy these others in their sleep, and there will be none to fight back; the earth shall be mine.
Such was the folly of princes, and there followed the Flame Deluge.

Walter M. Miller Jr. (1923-1996) American writer
A Canticle for Leibowitz, “Fiat Homo,” ch. 6 (1959)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 28 (1820)

Dave — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 17:51:22 +0000

Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storm.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 28 (1820)
(Source)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Calamity,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)

Dave — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 15:42:56 +0000

CALAMITY, n. A more than commonly plain and unmistakable reminder that the affairs of this life are not of our own ordering. Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Calamity,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Book 1. Gospel of Matthew 15:14 (Matt 15:14) (Jesus) [KJV (1611)]

Dave — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 18:41:41 +0000

They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

[ἄφετε αὐτούς· τυφλοί εἰσιν ὁδηγοὶ [τυφλῶν]· τυφλὸς δὲ τυφλὸν ἐὰν ὁδηγῇ, ἀμφότεροι εἰς βόθυνον πεσοῦνται.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 1. Gospel of Matthew 15:14 (Matt 15:14) (Jesus) [KJV (1611)]
(Source)

Jesus, speaking of the Pharisees. Origin of the English phrase, "the blind leading the blind."

This passage is paralleled in Luke 6:39.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

They are blind men leading blind men; and if one blind man leads another, both will fall into a pit.
[JB (1966)]

They are blind leaders of the blind; and when one blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch.
[GNT (1976)]

They are blind leaders of the blind; and if one blind person leads another, both will fall into a pit.
[NJB (1985)]

They are blind people who are guides to blind people. But if a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch.
[CEB (2011)]

They are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Scalzi, John -- The End of All Things (2015)

Dave — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 13:45:25 +0000

Sorvalh smiled, and it was terrifying, and glorious. “And so we learn how simple it is to change the history of the universe,” Sorvalh said. “All you need is for every other thing to have gone so horribly wrong first.”

John Scalzi (b. 1969) American writer
The End of All Things (2015)

Adams, John -- Diary (1756-03-27)

Dave — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 15:37:25 +0000

The Stream of Life sometimes glides smoothly on, through flowry meadows and enamell’d planes. At other times it draggs a winding reluctant Course through offensive Boggs and dismal gloomy Swamps. The same road now leads us thro’ a spacious Country fraught with evry delightful object, Then plunges us at once, into miry Sloughs, or stops our passage with craggy and inaccessible mountains. The free roving Songster of the forest, now rambles unconfin’d, and hopps from Spray to Spray but the next hour perhaps he alights to pick the scattered Grain and is entangled in the Snare. The Ship, which, wafted by a favourable gale, sails prosperously upon the peaceful Surface, by a sudden Change of weather may be tossed by the Tempest, and driven by furious, opposite winds, upon rocks or quicksands. In short nothing in this world enjoys a constant Series of Joy and prosperity.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Diary (1756-03-27)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 7 “The War of America the Unready” (1913)

Dave — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 14:14:00 +0000

Americans learn only from catastrophes and not from experience.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 7 “The War of America the Unready” (1913)
(Source)

~Other -- “Murphy’s Law” (1949)

Dave — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:57:10 +0000

If anything can go wrong, it will.

(Other Authors and Sources)
“Murphy’s Law” (1949)

Direct variants:

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."
"Everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong."

The history behind Murphy's Law -- and its very similar antecedents -- is long and disputed, unsurprising given its simple sentiments. It is most often attributed (via the name) to Capt. Edward Murphy, a development engineer working on rapid deceleration G-force tests, and first named as such by Dr. John Stapp, a US Air Force colonel and Flight Surgeon overseeing the project.

More information:

Ivins, Molly -- The Progressive (Oct 2005)

Dave — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:02:05 +0000

This is a column for everyone who ever said, “I’m sorry, I’m just not interested in politics,” or, “There’s nothing I can do about it,” or, “Hey, they’re all crooks anyway.” … I’ve got one word for all of you: Katrina. … This, friends, is why we need to pay attention to government policies, not political personalities, and to know whereon we vote. It is about our lives.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
The Progressive (Oct 2005)

Dunne, Finley Peter -- “The News of a Week,” Observations by Mr. Dooley (1902)

Dave — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:09:14 +0000

What’s wan man’s news is another man’s throubles.

[What’s one man’s news is another man’s troubles.]

Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) American humorist and journalist
“The News of a Week,” Observations by Mr. Dooley (1902)

Tuchman, Barbara -- The Guns of August (1962)

Dave — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:29:34 +0000

War is the unfolding of miscalculations.

Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989) American historian and author
The Guns of August (1962)

In Stilwell and the American Experience in China (1970), she gave this as "History is the unfolding of miscalculations."

Aykroyd, Dan -- Ghostbusters [with Harold Ramis] (1984)

Dave — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:11:22 +0000

VENKMAN: This city is headed for a disaster of Biblical proportions.

MAYOR: What do you mean, “Biblical”?

RAY: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling!

EGON: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes …

WINSTON: The dead rising from the grave!

VENKMAN: Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

Dan Aykroyd (b. 1952) Canadian comedian
Ghostbusters [with Harold Ramis] (1984)
(Source)

Stout, Rex -- The League of Frightened Men, ch. 7 [Wolfe] (1935)

Dave — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:57:15 +0000

To be broke is not a disgrace, it is only a catastrophe.

Rex Stout (1886-1975) American writer
The League of Frightened Men, ch. 7 [Wolfe] (1935)
(Source)

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1994-03-31)

Dave — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:36:46 +0000

CALVIN: I thought I had a great idea. But it never really took off. In fact, it didn’t even get on the runway. I guess you could say it exploded in the hangar.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1994-03-31)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Fortune of the Republic,” lecture, Boston (1878-03-30)

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:27:28 +0000

Divine Providence sends the chiefest benefits under the mask of calamities.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Fortune of the Republic,” lecture, Boston (1878-03-30)

Final version of a lecture first given in 1863, and his last public speech.

Shu Ching -- T’ai Chia

Dave — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 19:49:32 +0000

Heaven-sent calamities you may stand up against, but you cannot survive those brought on by yourself.

Shu Ching (6th Century BC) Chinese collection of political philosophy [Shujing, Shu-kin, Shangshu, The Book of History, The Book of Documents, or The Classic of History]
T’ai Chia

Also cited as Shu Ching 4, 5

Galbraith, John Kenneth -- Letter (1962-03-02) to Pres. John Kennedy

Dave — Wed, 30 Jun 2004 19:51:52 +0000

Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Letter (1962-03-02) to Pres. John Kennedy
(Source)

Quoted in Galbraith, Ambassador’s Journal, ch. 15 (1969). On the need to seek a settlement with Hanoi over the growing conflict in Viet Nam.

"Politics is the art of the possible" was a comment by Otto von Bismarck.

Shakespeare, William -- Henry VI, Part 3, Act 2, sc. 5, l. 55 (2.5.55) (1591)

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

SON: Ill blows the wind that profits nobody.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry VI, Part 3, Act 2, sc. 5, l. 55 (2.5.55) (1591)
(Source)

Napoleon Bonaparte -- Letter to Tallyrand (7 Oct 1797)

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

It is only a step from victory to disaster. My experience is that, in a crisis, some detail always decides the issue.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) French emperor, military leader
Letter to Tallyrand (7 Oct 1797)
(Source)

Napoleon's Letters [tr. J. M. Thompson (1934)]

Marx, Christy -- Babylon 5, 1×15 “Grail” (6 Jul 1994)

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

GARIBALDI: No boom?
SINCLAIR: No boom.
IVANOVA: No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There’s always a boom tomorrow. What? Look, somebody’s got to have some damn perspective around here! Boom. Sooner or later. BOOM!

Christy Marx (b. 1952) American screenwriter, photographer, game designer
Babylon 5, 1×15 “Grail” (6 Jul 1994)
(Source)