WIST Quotations

Spenser, Edmund -- The Faerie Queene, Book 2, Canto 1, st. 59 (1589-96)

Dave — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:14:35 +0000

Death is an equall doome
To good and bad, the common Inne of rest.

Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599) English poet
The Faerie Queene, Book 2, Canto 1, st. 59 (1589-96)
(Source)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Oblivion,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 20:09:50 +0000

OBLIVION, n. The state or condition in which the wicked cease from struggling and the dreary are at rest. Fame’s eternal dumping ground. Cold storage for high hopes. A place where ambitious authors meet their works without pride and their betters without envy. A dormitory without an alarm clock.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Oblivion,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-09-27), and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1903-10-28).

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5

Dave — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 15:19:16 +0000

So far as we can see, both horror and pain are necessary to the continuance of life on this planet, and it is therefore open to pessimists like Swift to say: “If horror and pain must always be with us, how can life be significantly improved?” His attitude is in effect the Christian attitude, minus the bribe of a “next world” — which, however, probably has less hold upon the minds of believers than the conviction that this world is a vale of tears and the grave is a place of rest.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5
(Source)

Wilde, Oscar -- The Canterville Ghost, ch. 5 [The Ghost] (1887)

Dave — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 23:28:25 +0000

Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
The Canterville Ghost, ch. 5 [The Ghost] (1887)
(Source)