WIST Quotations

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.

Martin, Judith -- Essay (1996-03/04), Modern Maturity magazine

Dave — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:37:07 +0000

Honesty is a virtue, but not the only one. If you’re in a courtroom, you need the whole truth and nothing but the truth; in the living room, sometimes you need anything but. Often.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Essay (1996-03/04), Modern Maturity magazine

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)

Dave — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 15:06:18 +0000

Our children know we lie to them, but not — thank God — how much.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas -- The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Preludes” (2010)

Dave — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 22:01:09 +0000

People are much less interested in what you are trying to show them than in what you are trying to hide.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Preludes” (2010)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-04), “Politics and the English Language,” Horizon Magazine

Dave — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 19:57:01 +0000

Defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers. People are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of the neck or sent to die of scurvy in Arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable elements. Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-04), “Politics and the English Language,” Horizon Magazine
(Source)

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1736 ed.)

Dave — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:55:46 +0000

Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion,
Instead of Truth they use Equivocation,
And eke it out with mental Reservation,
Which to good Men is an Abomination.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1736 ed.)
(Source)

Lynn, Jonathan -- Yes Minister, 01×05 “The Writing on the Wall” (BBC2 Television) (1980-03-24) [with Anthony Jay

Dave — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:37:07 +0000

SIR HUMPHREY: Well, Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one thing with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn’t very much in it one way or the other. As far as one can see, at this stage.

Jonathan Lynn (b. 1943) English actor, comedy writer, director
Yes Minister, 01×05 “The Writing on the Wall” (BBC2 Television) (1980-03-24) [with Anthony Jay

Adams, John -- Letter (1819-03-31) to J. H. Tiffany

Dave — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:25:21 +0000

As I have always been convinced that abuse of Words, has been the great instrument of Sophistry and Chicanery — of party, faction and Division in Society.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1819-03-31) to J. H. Tiffany
(Source)

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.

Lehrer, Tom -- Interview, Sydney Morning Herald (2003)

Dave — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:01:25 +0000

Things are much more complicated. Feminism versus pornography, for example. There are a lot of feminists who think it is bad, but others think it’s good. I have become, you might call it mature, I would call it senile, and I can see both sides. But you can’t write a satirical song with “but on the other hand” in it, or “however.” It’s got to be one-sided.

Tom Lehrer (b. 1928) American mathematician, satirist, songwriter
Interview, Sydney Morning Herald (2003)
(Source)

Munro, H. H. -- “Clovis on the Alleged Romance of Business,” The Square Egg (1924)

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

A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.

H. H. Munro (1870-1916) Scottish writer [Hector Hugh Munro; pseud. Saki]
“Clovis on the Alleged Romance of Business,” The Square Egg (1924)

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-07-20), The Spectator, No. 122

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

My friend Sir Roger heard them both upon a round trot; and after having paused some time, told them with an air of a man who would not give his judgment rashly, that “much might be said on both sides.”

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-07-20), The Spectator, No. 122
(Source)

Martin, Judith -- “Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1982-08-28)

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

If you can’t be kind, at least be vague.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1982-08-28)
(Source)

Widely cited as a Miss Manners quotation, this is actually the headline given in at least some outlets (e.g., The Washington Post) for this date's column (which may or may not have been the title suggested by the column itself). The phrased in an expanded form in the article:

In any case, Miss Manners does not believe in ending a summer fling by explaining that it was a summer fling, when the other person might have considered it significant. Neither does one document the decline of one's interest; it is not nearly so charming a story as the build-up of feeling was, at the beginning of the summer.
There is no way to be kind in such an assignment, but you can at least be vague.