WIST Quotations

Randi, James -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:40:09 +0000

The first thing a cult does is tell you everyone else is lying.

James Randi (1928-2020) Canadian-American stage magician ("The Amazing Randi") and scientific skeptic. [b. Randall James Hamilton Zwinge]
(Attributed)

Very widely quoted and attributed to Randi. I cannot, however, find any evidence showing Randi actually said this, though it is plausible.

Carlyle, Thomas -- Lecture (1840-05-15), “The Hero as Priest,” Home House, Portman Square, London

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 19:07:01 +0000

Is not every true Reformer, by the nature of him, a Priest first of all? He appeals to Heaven’s invisible justice against Earth’s visible force; knows that it, the invisible, is strong and alone strong. He is a believer in the divine truth of things; a seer, seeing through the shows of things; a worshipper, in one way or the other, of the divine truth of things; a Priest, that is. If he be not first a Priest, he will never be good for much as a Reformer.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-15), “The Hero as Priest,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)

The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 4 (1841).

Orwell, George -- Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

Dave — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 16:07:05 +0000

The primary aim of propaganda is, of course, to influence contemporary opinion, but those who rewrite history do probably believe with part of their minds that they are actually thrusting facts into the past. When one considers the elaborate forgeries that have been committed in order to show that Trotsky did not play a valuable part in the Russian civil war, it is difficult to feel that the people responsible are merely lying. More probably they feel that their own version was what happened in the sight of God, and that one is justified in rearranging the records accordingly.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)
(Source)