WIST Quotations

Hugo, Victor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 20:11:55 +0000

Progress is the stride of God.

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
(Attributed)

Widely attributed to Hugo, but I cannot find a primary source for it. In a few places it is cited to his William Shakespeare (1864), but not in the two English translations I could find for it, nor could I identify it in the French.

The earliest attribution to Hugo I found was in Day's Collacon (1884), without citation. If this is a loose paraphrase of something in William Shakespeare, I have not tracked it down.

Variants:

Progress is the stride of God himself.
Progress is the stride of God, and God never takes a step backward.

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 222 (1820)

Dave — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 02:30:55 +0000

There is no cruelty so inexorable and unrelenting, as that which proceeds from a bigoted and presumptuous supposition of doing service to God. Under the influence of such hallucination, all common modes of reasoning are perverted, and all general principles are destroyed.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 222 (1820)
(Source)

Augustine of Hippo -- On Christian Doctrine [De Doctrina Christiana], Book 2, ch. 18 / § 28 (2.18.28) (AD 397) [tr. Robertson (1958)]

Dave — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:42:19 +0000

But we should not think that we ought not to learn literature because Mercury is said to be its inventor, nor that because the pagans dedicated temples to Justice and Virtue and adored in stones what should be performed in the heart, we should therefore avoid justice and virtue. Rather, every good and true Christian should understand that wherever he may find truth, it is his Lord’s.

[Neque enim et litteras discere non debuimus quia earum repertorem dicunt esse Mercurium, aut quia iustitiae virtutique templa dedicarunt, et quae corde gestanda sunt in lapidibus adorare maluerunt, propterea nobis iustitia virtusque fugienda est. Immo vero quisquis bonus verusque Christianus est, Domini sui esse intellegat.]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
On Christian Doctrine [De Doctrina Christiana], Book 2, ch. 18 / § 28 (2.18.28) (AD 397) [tr. Robertson (1958)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For we ought not to refuse to learn letters because they say that Mercury discovered them; nor because they have dedicated temples to Justice and Virtue, and prefer to worship in the form of stones things that ought to have their place in the heart, ought we on that account to forsake justice and virtue. Nay, but let every good and true Christian understand that wherever truth may be found, it belongs to his Master.
[tr. Shaw (1858)]

We were not wrong to learn the alphabet just because they say Mercury was its patron, nor should we avoid justice and virtue just because they dedicated temples to justice and virtue and preferred to honour these values not in their minds, but in the form of stones. A person who is a good and a true Christian should realize that truth belongs to his Lord, wherever it is found.
[tr. Green (1995)]

Ehrman, Bart -- Misquoting Jesus, “Conclusion” (2005)

Dave — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 20:39:17 +0000

For the only reason (I came to think) for God to inspire the Bible would be so that his people would have his actual words; but if he really wanted people to have his actual words, surely he would have miraculously preserved those words, just as he had miraculously inspired them in the first place.

Bart D. Ehrman (b. 1955) American Biblical scholar, author
Misquoting Jesus, “Conclusion” (2005)
(Source)

Bible, Vol. 1. Old Testament -- Book 19. Psalms 119: 105 (Ps 119:105) [KJV (1611)]

Dave — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 14:47:10 +0000

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

נֵר־לְרַגְלִ֥י דְבָרֶ֑ךָ וְ֝א֗וֹר לִנְתִיבָתִֽי׃

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 19. Psalms 119: 105 (Ps 119:105) [KJV (1611)]
(Source)

(Source (Hebrew)). Alternate translations:

Now your word is a lamp to my feet, a light on my path.
[JB (1966)]

Your word is a lamp to guide me
and a light for my path.
[GNT (1976)]

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
[NJB (1985)]

Your word is a lamp before my feet
and a light for my journey.
[CEB (2011)]

Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Your word is a lamp to my feet,
a light for my path.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]