WIST Quotations

Keynes, John Maynard -- Treatise on Money, Book 6, ch. 30 (1930)

Dave — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 21:39:29 +0000

If Enterprise is afoot, Wealth accumulates whatever may be happening to Thrift; and if Enterprise is asleep, Wealth decays, whatever Thrift may be doing.

John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) English economist
Treatise on Money, Book 6, ch. 30 (1930)
(Source)

Euripides -- Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 985ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]

Dave — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 16:58:19 +0000

ORESTES: I’ll go. I’ll start to do this dreadful thing, this horror. Yes, I will. If it’s the gods’ will, I’ll do it. But I take no joy in it.

[ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔσειμι: δεινοῦ δ᾽ ἄρχομαι προβλήματος
καὶ δεινὰ δράσω γε — εἰ θεοῖς δοκεῖ τάδε,
ἔστω: πικρὸν δὲ χἡδὺ τἀγώνισμά μοι.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 985ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]
(Source)

Orestes going to kill his mother, Clytemnestra, who was, along with the already-killed Aegisthus, the murderer of his father, Agamemnon.

Interestingly, earlier translations have him characterize the task as both bitter and sweet; later ones only speak of its bitterness.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

I go in.
Tho' I am entering on a deed that's fraught
With horror, I will execute the deed;
Thus let it be, if thus the righteous Gods
Ordain: altho' this conflict to my soul
At the same time be bitter, and yet sweet.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

I will go in; it is a dreadful task I am beginning and I will do dreadful things. If the gods approve, let it be; to me the contest is bitter and also sweet.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

I will enter in; but I am beginning a dreadful attempt. Ay, and I shall do dreadful things; but if this seems fit to the Gods, let it be; but the contest is for me [at once] bitter and sweet.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

I will go in. A horror I essay!
Yea, horrors will achieve! If this please Heaven,
So be it. Bitter strife, yet sweet, for me.
[tr. Way (1896)]

Aye. So be it. -- I have ta'en
A path of many terrors: and shall do
Deeds horrible. 'Tis God will have it so. ...
Is this the joy of battle, or wild woe?
[tr. Murray (1905)]

I will go in; 'tis an awful task I undertake; an awful deed I have to do; still if it is Heaven's will, be it so; I loathe and yet I love the enterprise.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]

Fine. I am going inside. Terrible the deed I shall begin and frightening the deeds I shall accomplish. If this is liked by the gods then so be it. My battle is bitter, not sweet.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]

I’ll go in.
I’m on the verge of a horrendous act,
something truly dreadful. Well, so be it,
if gods approve of this. And yet, for me
the contest is not sweet at all, but bitter.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 204 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]

Dave — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 17:10:11 +0000

But the greatest undertakings should not be overly pondered, lest contemplation of difficulties too clearly foreseen appall you.

[Los grandes empeños aun no se han de pensar, basta ofrecerse, porque la dificultad, advertida, no ocasione el reparo.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 204 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Other translations:

As to great enterprizes, we must not stand reasoning, it is enough that we embrace them when they present, lest the consideration of their difficulty make us abandon the attempt.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

Great undertakings are not to be brooded over, lest their difficulty when seen causes despair.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

In moments of great danger, don't even think, simply act. Don't dwell on the difficulties.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

Mandela, Nelson -- Long Walk to Freedom (1995)

Dave — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 04:05:44 +0000

It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African revolutionary, politician, statesman
Long Walk to Freedom (1995)

Brooks, Phillips -- Daily Thoughts from Phillips Brooks (1893)

Dave — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 23:53:16 +0000

Dreadful will be the day when the world becomes contented, when one great universal satisfaction spreads itself over the world. Sad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life that he is living, with the thoughts that he is thinking, with the deeds that he is doing, when there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger which he knows that he was meant and made to do because he is a child of God.

Phillips Brooks (1835–1893) American clergyman, hymnist
Daily Thoughts from Phillips Brooks (1893)

Clarke, John -- Proverbs: English and Latine (1639)

Dave — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 15:34:56 +0000

Many strokes fell tall Oaks.

John Clarke (d. 1658) British educator
Proverbs: English and Latine (1639)

Virgil -- Georgics [Georgica], Book 1, l. 40ff (1.40) (29 BC) [tr. Rhoades (1881)]

Dave — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:39:52 +0000

Smile on this
My bold endeavour.

[Audacibus annue coeptis]

Virgil (70–19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
Georgics [Georgica], Book 1, l. 40ff (1.40) (29 BC) [tr. Rhoades (1881)]
(Source)

Calling on (now declared divine) Augustus Caesar to bless his poetry. This line, and a similar one in Virgil's Aeneid (9.625), inspired the phrase "Annuit cœptis" ("He [God] has favored our undertakings") on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Aid my bold design.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

To my bold Endeavours add thy Force.
[tr. Dryden (1709), l. 60]

Aid my bold design.
[tr. Nevile (1767), l. 50]

Favour my adventurous enterprise.
[tr. Davidson (1854)]

Bid my gallant enterprise succeed.
[tr. Blackmore (1871)]

Favor my bold emprise.
[tr. Wilkins (1873)]

Our bold endeavor bless.
[tr. King (1882)]

Favor my adventurous enterprise.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]

Favour my bold endeavour.
[tr. Mackail (1899)]

Smile on this
My bold endeavour.
[tr. Greenough (1900)]

O smile upon this my bold emprise!
[tr. Way (1912)]

Give assent to my bold emprise.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1916)]

Be gracious to this my bold design.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1940)]

Condone this enterprise
Of bold experiment.
[tr. Bovie (1956)]

I hope for an easy passage in this bold venture.
[tr. Slavitt (1971)]

Assent to bold undertakings.
[tr. Miles (1980)]

Smile on my enterprise.
[tr. Wilkinson (1982)]

Agree to my bold beginning.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

Assent to this work boldly begun.
[tr. Lembke (2004)]

Bless the boldness of this undertaking.
[tr. Fallon (2006)]

Approve my bold endeavour.
[tr. Johnson (2009)]

Grant me the right to enter upon this bold
Adventure of mine.
[tr. Ferry (2015)]

Look with favor upon a bold beginning.
[Bartlett's]

Shakespeare, William -- Julius Caesar, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 249ff (4.3.249-255) (1599)

Dave — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:43:51 +0000

BRUTUS: There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves
Or lose our ventures.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 249ff (4.3.249-255) (1599)
(Source)

Thoreau, Henry David -- Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 18 “Conclusion” (1854)

Dave — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:33:29 +0000

Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 18 “Conclusion” (1854)
(Source)

Johnson, Samuel -- Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Pope” (1781)

Dave — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:56:06 +0000

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Pope” (1781)
(Source)

Also known as Lives of English Poets and Lives of the Poets.

Propertius -- Elegies, Book 2, Elegy 10, l. 5ff (2.10.5-6) [tr. Holcombe (2009)]

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

And should I fail, my courage brings its commendation:
greatness aimed at is enough.

[Quod si deficiant vires, audacia certe
Laus erit: in magnis et voluisse sat est.]

Propertius (50–16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 2, Elegy 10, l. 5ff (2.10.5-6) [tr. Holcombe (2009)]
(Source)

Talking specifically about writing epics about mighty themes and accomplishments.

Because of the corruption of manuscripts of Propertius and speculating from internal references, some 19th Century scholars (e.g., Lachmann) argued for a different division of the elegies into books, thus the translations here wich instead label this as Book 3, Elegy 1.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

And if my powers of song should fail -- to dare were surely fame:
Enough that I have had the will; no higher praise I claim.
[tr. Cranstoun (1875), 3.1]

Courage in weighty works must power supply,
And praise be mine that I've the will to try.
[tr. Moore (1870), 3.1]

But if my powers fail me, at all events my courage will be meritorious: in great attempts even to have had the will is enough.
[tr. Gantillon (1884), 3.1]

And if my strength fail, at least my boldness will be a title of honour; in great enterprises, the very "I would" is enough.
[tr. Phillimore (1906)]

But should strength fail me, yet my daring shall win me fame: in mighty enterprises enough even to have willed success.
[tr. Butler (Loeb) (1912)]

If I have not the faculty, "The bare attempt would be praiseworthy."
"In things of similar magnitude
the mere will to act is sufficient."
[tr. Pound (1919), 5.1]

What though I fail? That I have dared aspire
should be enough. I shall have tried. What more?
[tr. Carrier (1963)]

But if my strength should fail, why then my temerity
Is sure of praise, for in matters of moment
The intention suffices.
[tr. Musker (1972)]

And should strength fail me, my daring at least will win me praise: in mighty projects even to have wished is enough.
[tr. Goold (Loeb) (1990)]

If strength be lacking, surely ambition will be praised;
The intention in great matters is enough.
[tr. Lee (1992)]

But if I lack the power, then surely my courage will be praised: it’s enough simply to have willed great things.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

What though strength fails? Boldness is certain to win praise. In mighty enterprises, it is enough to have had the determination.
[Bartlett]

Hayes, Helen -- Reader’s Digest (1958)

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

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that’s nice too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about the success.

Helen Hayes (1900–1993) American actress
Reader’s Digest (1958)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1864-03-21) to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association, Washington, DC

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

That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprize. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
Speech (1864-03-21) to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association, Washington, DC
(Source)