WIST Quotations

Douglas, William O. -- Points of Rebellion, ch. 1 “How America Views Dissent” (1969)

Dave — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 23:54:41 +0000

Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order, to efficiency of operations, to scientific advancement, and the like.

William O. Douglas (1898–1980) American jurist; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–75)
Points of Rebellion, ch. 1 “How America Views Dissent” (1969)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Essay (1918-04-06), “Citizens or Subjects?” Kansas City Star

Dave — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 17:29:37 +0000

My loyalty is due the United States, and therefore it is due to the President, the Senators, the Congressmen, and all other public servants only and to the degree in which they loyally and efficiently serve the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Essay (1918-04-06), “Citizens or Subjects?” Kansas City Star

Regarding a bill which had just passed the Senate Judiciary Committee which would fine and imprison any one who used "contemptuous or slurring language about the President."

This passage was added to later editions of his essay, "Lincoln and Free Speech,", as printed in The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 21, The Great Adventure, ch. 7 (1925). It does not appear in the original version of the essay or book.

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)

Dave — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:21:52 +0000

It is amazing how much both happiness and efficiency can be increased by the cultivation of an orderly mind, which thinks about a matter adequately at the right time rather than inadequately at all times.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter (1749-12-26) to his son (#211)

Dave — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 23:02:53 +0000

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter (1749-12-26) to his son (#211)

Chesterfield either loves the "Never put off" phrase or is very familiar with it: he repeats it a few months later in Letter 216 (1750-02-05), and then a few years later in Letter 309 (1754-02-26).

See Fuller and Franklin.

Rogers, Will -- Column (1930-04-28), “Daily Telegram: Will Rogers Sees No Value in All the Time We Save”

Dave — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 20:25:44 +0000

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.

Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist
Column (1930-04-28), “Daily Telegram: Will Rogers Sees No Value in All the Time We Save”

Written while in Beverly Hills. Collected in The Autobiography of Will Rogers, ch. 15 (1949) [ed. Donald Day].

Gauss, Carl Friedrich -- Letter to Heinrich Christian Schumacher (1833-04-02)

Dave — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 20:36:44 +0000

You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length.

[Sie wissen, dass ich langsam schreibe, allein dies kommt hauptsächlich daher, weil ich mir nie anders gefallen kann, als wenn in kleinem Raum möglichst viel ist, und kurz zu schreiben viel mehr Zeit kostet als lang.]

Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) German mathematician, geodesist, physicist [Carolus Fridericus Gauss]
Letter to Heinrich Christian Schumacher (1833-04-02)

The letter, in German, can be found in Christian August Friedrich Peters (ed.), Briefwechsel zwischen C. F. Gauss und H. C. Schumacher, Vol. 2 (1860).

The English translation source for this quotation is obscure. It is quoted, without citation, in H. Merschkowski, Ways of Thought of Great Mathematicians (1964) and, more recently, G. Simmons, Calculus Gems (1992), and is usually referenced to one of those two books.

Barbusse, Henri -- Light, ch. 23 (1919)

Dave — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 02:05:11 +0000

That society is badly arranged which forces nearly all women to be servants.

Henri Barbusse (1873–1935) French novelist, poet, journalist, activist
Light, ch. 23 (1919)

Child, Julia -- Julia Child’s Kitchen, Introduction (1975)

Dave — Thu, 11 May 2023 17:50:01 +0000

Learn how to cook! That’s my invariable answer when I am asked to give forth with money-saving recipes, economy tips, budget gourmet dinner menus for six people under ten dollars, and the like. Learn how to cook! That’s the way to save money. You don’t save it buying hamburger helpers, and prepared foods; you save it buying fresh foods in season or in large supply, when they are cheapest and usually best, and you prepare them from scratch at home. Why pay for someone else’s work, when if you know how to do it, you can save all that money for yourself? Knowing how to do it also means doing it fast, and preparing parts of a dish or a meal whenever you have a spare moment in the kitchen. That way, cooking well doesn’t take a great deal of time, and when you cook well, you’ll be eating far better meals than you could buy from the freezer, or at a restaurant.

Julia Child (1912–2004) American chef and writer
Julia Child’s Kitchen, Introduction (1975)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1957-08)

Dave — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 16:14:49 +0000

Parents should work together as efficiently as two bookends.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1957-08)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1949-02)

Dave — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 14:28:12 +0000

Efficiency is a thief of time when it leaves no leisure.

Marcelene Cox (1900–1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1949-02)

Hammerstein-Equord, Kurt von -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 04 May 2020 22:26:55 +0000

I divide my officers into four classes: the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!

Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord (1878–1943) German general
(Attributed)

Possibly apocryphal. Quoted (unconfirmed) in Horst Poller, Bewältigte Vergangenheit. Das 20. Jahrhundert, erlebt, erlitten, gestaltet [Conquered Past. The 20th century, witnessed, endured, shaped] (2010). Sometimes cited to Truppenführung [Troop Leading] (1933), the German Army Field Manual, but not found there. Also attributed to Erich von Manstein.

Keynes, John Maynard -- “The End of Laissez-faire,” sec. 5 (1926)

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 15:54:20 +0000

For my part I think that capitalism, wisely managed, can probably be made more efficient for attaining economic ends than any alternative system yet in sight, but that in itself it is in many ways extremely objectionable.

John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) English economist
“The End of Laissez-faire,” sec. 5 (1926)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1839-02-07)

Dave — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 05:30:03 +0000

In nature nothing is done but in the cheapest way.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1839-02-07)

Jerrold, Douglas -- The History of St. Giles and St. James, ch. 15 (1845)

Dave — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 00:35:40 +0000

To reform man was a tedious and uncertain labor: now hanging was the sure work of a minute.

Douglas William Jerrold (1803–1857) English playwright and humorist
The History of St. Giles and St. James, ch. 15 (1845)

Sarnoff, David -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 16:14:53 +0000

Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.

David Sarnoff (1881–1971) Belarusian-American businessman and broadcasting executive
(Attributed)

~Other -- Harry “Breaker” Morant, to the firing squad (27 Feb 1902)

Dave — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:08:29 +0000

Shoot straight you bastards. Don’t make a mess of it.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Harry “Breaker” Morant, to the firing squad (27 Feb 1902)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Essay (1900-06), “Latitude and Longitude Among Reformers,” The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 2

Dave — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:40:27 +0000

All men in whose character there is not an element of hardened baseness must admit the need in our public life of those qualities which we somewhat vaguely group together when we speak of “reform,” and all men of sound mind must also admit the need of efficiency.
There are, of course, men of such low moral type, or of such ingrained cynicism, that they do not believe in the possibility of making anything better, or do not care to see things better. There are also men who are slightly disordered mentally, or who are cursed with a moral twist which makes them champion reforms less from a desire to do good to others than as a kind of tribute to their own righteousness, for the sake of emphasizing their own superiority. From neither of these classes can we get any real help in the unending struggle for righteousness.
There remains the great body of the people, including the entire body of those through whom the salvation of the people must ultimately be worked out. All these men combine or seek to combine in varying degrees the quality of striving after the ideal, that is, the quality which makes men reformers, and the quality of so striving through practical methods — the quality which makes men efficient. Both qualities are absolutely essential. The absence of either makes the presence of the other worthless or worse.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Essay (1900-06), “Latitude and Longitude Among Reformers,” The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 2

Collected in Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1902).

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 3, Citizenship Papers (2003)

Dave — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:03:42 +0000

It is impossible to think that constitutional government can be suspended in a time of danger, in deference to the greater “efficiency” of centralized power, and then easily or quickly restored. Efficiency may be a political virtue, but only if strictly limited. Our Constitution, by its separation of powers and its system of checks and balances, acts as a restraint upon efficiency by denying exclusive power to any branch of government. The logic of governmental efficiency, unchecked, runs straight on, not only to dictatorship, but also to torture, assassination, and other abominations.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 3, Citizenship Papers (2003)

This passage did not appear in the original (abridged) full-page ad in the New York Times (2003-02-06) or the Orion Magazine (2003-03/04) publication of the essay.

Benchley, Robert -- “How to Get Things Done,” Chicago Tribune (2 Feb 1930)

Dave — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:33:21 +0000

The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one. I have based it very deliberately on a well-known psychological principle and have refined it so that it is now almost too refined. I shall have to begin coarsening it up again pretty soon. The psychological principle is this: anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.

Robert Benchley (1889–1945) American humorist, columnist, actor, wit
“How to Get Things Done,” Chicago Tribune (2 Feb 1930)

Stevenson, Adlai -- Speech (1952-09-11), “On Political Morality,” Town Hall Luncheon, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles

Dave — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:15:45 +0000

In the tragic days of Mussolini, the trains in Italy ran on time as never before and I am told in their way, their horrible way, that the Nazi concentration-camp system in Germany was a model of horrible efficiency. The really basic thing in government is policy. Bad administration, to be sure, can destroy good policy, but good administration can never save bad policy.

Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-09-11), “On Political Morality,” Town Hall Luncheon, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles

McCarthy, Eugene -- Quoted (1979-02-12), “People: On the Record” section, Time Magazine

Dave — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:47:05 +0000

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.

Eugene McCarthy (1916–2005) American politician, poet, activist
Quoted (1979-02-12), “People: On the Record” section, Time Magazine

(Backup Source). See Truman (1959).

Adams, Douglas -- Last Chance to See, ch. 2 (1990) [with Mark Carwardine]

Dave — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:27:08 +0000

I am rarely happier than when spending entire day programming my computer to perform automatically a task that it would otherwise take me a good ten seconds to do by hand.

Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Last Chance to See, ch. 2 (1990) [with Mark Carwardine]

The source BBC Radio documentary (1989-11-01) can no longer be played at the BBC site.

Adams reading the 1992 audiobook can be heard here.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher -- “The Lady Who Does Her Own Work,” Atlantic Monthly (1864)

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

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than circumstances drive them to do.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) American author
“The Lady Who Does Her Own Work,” Atlantic Monthly (1864)

Knuth, Donald E. -- Essay (1974-12), “Structured Programming with go to Statements,” ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 6

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

There is no doubt that the “grail” of efficiency leads to abuse. Programmers waste enormous amounts of time thinking about, or worrying about, the speed of noncritical parts of their programs, and these attempts at efficiency actually have a strong negative impact when debugging and maintenance are considered. We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.

Donald E. Knuth (b. 1938) American computer scientist, mathematician, academic
Essay (1974-12), “Structured Programming with go to Statements,” ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 6

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #131 (6 Nov 1747)

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

I recommend to you to take care of the minutes; for hours will take care of themselves.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #131 (6 Nov 1747)