WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 35ff (4.1.35-36) (1598)

Dave — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 20:24:42 +0000

CLAUDIO: O, what authority and show of truth
Can cunning sin cover itself withal!

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 35ff (4.1.35-36) (1598)
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, ch. 4 (1983)

Dave — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 16:35:22 +0000

Americans are the only people in the world known to me whose status anxiety prompts them to advertise their college and university affiliations in the rear window of their automobiles.

Paul Fussell (1924–2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, ch. 4 (1983)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

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

Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are others who will lie and scheme and steal to get books as wildly and unconscionably as the dope-taker in pursuit of his drug. They may not want the books to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to range on their shelves, to have at command. They want books as a Turk is thought to want concubines — not to be hastily deflowered, but to be kept at their master’s call, and enjoyed more often in thought than in reality.

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

Martin, Steve -- L. A. Story (1991)

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

HARRIS: Ordinarily, I don’t like to be around interesting people because it means I have to be interesting too.

SARA: Are you saying I’m interesting?

HARRIS: All I’m saying is that, when I’m around you, I find myself showing off, which is the idiot’s version of being interesting.

Steve Martin (b. 1945) American comedian, actor, writer, producer, musician
L. A. Story (1991)
(Source)