WIST Quotations

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1745 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:34:10 +0000

It’s common for Men to give 6 pretended Reasons instead of one real one.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)

Moliere -- Don Juan [Dom Juan], Act 5, sc. 2 (1665) [tr. Wilbur (2001)]

Dave — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 22:38:12 +0000

DON JUAN: It’s no longer shameful to be a dissembler; hypocrisy is now a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtues.

[DON JUAN: Il n’y a plus de honte maintenant à cela ; l’hypocrisie est un vice à la mode, et tous les vices à la mode passent pour vertus.]

Molière (1622–1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Don Juan [Dom Juan], Act 5, sc. 2 (1665) [tr. Wilbur (2001)]

(Source (French)). Other translations:

There's no manner of Disgrace in this now-a-days, Hypocrisy is a modish Vice, and all modish Vices pass for Virtues.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]

There is no longer any shame in acting thus: hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtues.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]

There is no longer any shame in Hypocrisy; it is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtues.
[tr. Wall (1879)]

There is no longer any shame in acting thus. Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtues.
[tr. Waller (1904)]

Nowadays there's no longer any disgrace in it; hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtues.
[tr. Page (1908)]

There's no shame in that any more nowadays: hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtues.
[tr. Frame (1967)]

Talleyrand -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 18:29:01 +0000

Speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts.

[La parole a été donné à l’homme pour déguiser sa pensée.]

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838) French secularized clergyman, statesman, wit, diplomat
(Attributed)

For more discussion of the sources of this quote, see S. A. Bent, ed., Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1887). The sentiment, if not the precise wording, predates Talleyrand.

Mencken, H. L. -- A Little Book in C Major, ch. 2, § 7 (1916)

Dave — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:35:33 +0000

The surest way to get a reputation as a liar is to pretend to be very good. The next surest way is to pretend to be very wicked.

H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Little Book in C Major, ch. 2, § 7 (1916)

Variants:

LlAR. (a) One who pretends to be very good; (b) one who pretends to be very bad.
[A Book of Burlesques, "The Jazz Webster" (1924)]

Liar — (a) One who pretends to be very good; (b) one who pretends to be very bad.
[Chrestomathy, ch. 30 "Sententiae" (1949)]

Pasternak, Boris -- Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 2, ch. 15 “Conclusion,” sec. 6 [Yury] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), UK ed.]

Dave — Tue, 14 May 2024 17:50:22 +0000

The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant, systematic duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune. Your nervous system isn’t a fiction, it’s a part of your physical body, and your soul exists in space and is inside you, like the teeth in your head. You can’t keep violating it with impunity.

Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator
Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 2, ch. 15 “Conclusion,” sec. 6 [Yury] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), UK ed.]

Other translations:

The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant, systematic duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune. Our nervous system isn’t just a fiction, it’s a part of our physical body, and our soul exists in space and is inside us, like the teeth in our mouth. It can’t be forever violated with impunity.
[tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), US ed.]

A constant, systematic dissembling is required of the vast majority of us. It’s impossible, without its affecting your health, to show yourself day after day contrary to what you feel, to lay yourself out for what you don’t love, to rejoice over what brings you misfortune. Our nervous system is not an empty sound, not a fiction. It’s a physical body made up of fibers. Our soul takes up room in space and sits inside us like the teeth in our mouth. It cannot be endlessly violated with impunity.
[tr. Pevear & Volokhonsky (2010)]

Martin, Judith -- “Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1979-11-24)

Dave — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 19:35:55 +0000

In artful boasting, one states all the information necessary to impress people, but keeps the facts decently clothed in the language of humility. Useful approaches include Disbelief, Fear and Manic Elation. For some reason, these are considered to be more attractive human emotions than justifiable pride or self-satisfaction. Probably because they are not as much fun.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1979-11-24)

Collected in Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 "Basic Civilization," "Social Intercourse" (1983).

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

Dave — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 23:31:48 +0000

APOLOGIZE, v.i. To lay the foundation for a future offense.

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

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).

Brewster, Kingman -- Speech, as quoted in The New York Tribune (14 Oct 1963)

Dave — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 03:24:03 +0000

If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it’s quite conscious.

Kingman Brewster, Jr. (1919–1988) American educator, diplomat
Speech, as quoted in The New York Tribune (14 Oct 1963)

On appointment as President of Yale University.