WIST Quotations

Moliere -- Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 6 (1669) [tr. Frame (1967)]

Dave — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 17:51:06 +0000

CLÉANTE: Most men are strangely made; they always stray
Out of the natural and proper way;
Rejecting reason’s bounds as limitations,
They range about amid their aberrations;
Even the noblest things they often mar
By forcing them and pushing them too far.

[Les hommes, la plupart, sont étrangement faits;
Dans la juste nature on ne les voit jamais:
La raison a pour eux des bornes trop petites,
En chaque caractère ils passent ses limites;
Et la plus noble chose, ils la gâtent souvent,
Pour la vouloir outrer et pousser trop avant.]

Molière (1622–1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 6 (1669) [tr. Frame (1967)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

Men, generally are odd Creatures: They never keep up to true Nature. The Bounds of Reason are too narrow for them. In every Character they over-act their Parts, and the noblest Designs very often suffer in their Hands, because they will be running things into Extremes, and always carry things too far.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]

Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, and never keep the right mean; reason's boundaries are too narrow for them; in every character they overact their parts; and they often spoil the noblest designs, because they exaggerate, and carry them too far.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]

Men are really strange beings; they never keep to simple nature. The bounds of reason seem too narrow for them, and in every character they over-act their parts; they often spoil even the noblest thing by exaggeration.
[tr. Wall (1879)]

Men for the most part are strange creatures; they never see nature in its true light; the bounds of reason are too narrow for them. In every character they over-act their parts, and often spoil the noblest things; because they will run into extremes, and push matters too far.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]

Men, truly, are strange beings! They are never seen in their proper nature; reason's boundaries are too limited from them; in every character they over-act the part; and they often mar that which is most noble by too much exaggeration and by willful extremes.
[tr. Waller (1903)]

Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, truly!
You never find them keep the golden mean;
The limits of good sense, too narrow for them,
Must always be passed by, in each direction;
They often spoil the noblest things, because
They go too far, and push them to extremes.
[tr. Page (1909)]

Really, humanity is most peculiar!
Men won't remain in the mean middle way;
The boundaries of reason are too narrow.
They force their character beyond its limits,
And often spoil even most noble aims
By exaggeration, carrying things too far.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]

Ah, Brother, man's a strangely fashioned creature
Who seldom is content to follow Nature,
But recklessly pursues his inclination
Beyond the narrow bounds of moderation,
And often, by transgressing Reason's laws,
Perverts a lofty aim or noble cause.
[tr. Wilbur (1963), 1.5]

We humans are a curious lot
The fact is, few of us have got
A sense of Nature's golden mean,
We can't keep straight, we have to lean
To one, extreme and dangerous side;
The bounds of reason aren't that wide,
Staying within them is a feat
Beyond our scope -- you seldom meet
A man who'll tread its narrow way
If there's a chance for him to stray.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]

What strange creatures men are! They're always off balance; they think being reasonable is too limiting; they spoil what’s best by pushing things too far.
[tr. Steiner (2008), 1.5]

The majority of men are strangely made!
[tr. Campbell (2013)]

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 72 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]

Dave — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 17:14:24 +0000

All passions exaggerate; it is only because they exaggerate that they are passions.

[Toutes les passions sont exagératrices, et elles ne sont des passions que parce qu’elles exagèrent.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741–1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 72 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

All passions are exaggerated, otherwise they would not be passions.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902)]

All of the passions lead to exaggeration. That is why they are passions.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

All passions involve excess, in fact that's what makes them passions.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶59]

All passions exaggerate, and they are only passions because they exaggerate.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Twain, Mark -- Note (1897-05-31), paraphrased

Dave — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 22:49:20 +0000

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Note (1897-05-31), paraphrased
(Source)

This was based on a statement Mark Twain gave to Frank Marshall White, a British correspondent of the New York Journal (later misremembered by Twain as the New York Evening Sun). White had received a cable from America on 1897-05-28 to get information that Twain was on his deathbed. White tracked him down in London and gave a written inquiry. Twain wrote out a note (with a number of emendations) saying:

James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness; the report of my death was an exaggeration.

White's article with the response was published on the front page of the Journal on 1897-06-02. The longhand note is still preserved. Twain also recorded it in his notebook that same day.

In 1906, Twain recalled the incident for his memoir that he told the reporter (verbally), "Say the report is exaggerated." On retyping the manuscript 1906-04-03, he scribbled the word "greatly" in front of "exaggerated," and it was published that way in "Chapters from My Autobiography," The North American Review, Vol. 183, No. 599 (1906-09-21).

In Albert B. Paine's Mark Twain, a Biography, Vol. 2, ch. 197 (1912), the story is that Twain told the correspondent, "Just say the report of my death has been grossly exaggerated." In the 1935 edition, this was changed to the text from the original note.

Bernard DeVoto's 1940 Twain autobiography, Mark Twain in Eruption, uses the North American Review version, without the "greatly."

Further discussion and details:

Bukowski, Charles -- The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998)

Dave — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 21:52:52 +0000

The human race exaggerates everything: its heroes, its enemies, its importance.

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) German-American author, poet
The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998)

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #126 (21 Sep 1747)

Dave — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 19:02:11 +0000

There is another sort of lies, inoffensive enough in themselves, but wonderfully ridiculous; I mean those lies which a mistaken vanity suggests, that defeat the very end for which they are calculated, and terminate in the humiliation and confusion of their author, who is sure to be detected. These are chiefly narrative and historical lies, all intended to do infinite honor to their author. He is always the hero of his own romances; he has been in dangers from which nobody but himself ever escaped; he as seen with his own eyes, whatever other people have heard or read of; he has had more bonnes fortunes than ever he knew women; and has ridden more miles post in one day, than ever courier went in two. He is soon ridiculed, and as soon becomes the object of universal contempt and ridicule.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #126 (21 Sep 1747)
(Source)

Friedman, Thomas -- From Beirut to Jerusalem, ch. 8 (1989)

Dave — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 20:11:45 +0000

People who have never really wielded power always have illusions about how much those who have power can really do.

Thomas Friedman (b. 1953) American journalist, columnist, author
From Beirut to Jerusalem, ch. 8 (1989)
(Source)

Steinbeck, John -- East of Eden, ch. 1 (1952)

Dave — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 23:46:11 +0000

You can boast about anything if it’s all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.

John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer
East of Eden, ch. 1 (1952)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- “Redbook Dialogue,” interview by Tommy Robbins, Redbook (1964-09)

Dave — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:33:23 +0000

You mustn’t exaggerate, young man. That’s always a sign your argument is weak.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Redbook Dialogue,” interview by Tommy Robbins, Redbook (1964-09)
(Source)

Reprinted in Russell Society News, #37 (1983-02), p. 24.

La Rochefoucauld, Francois -- Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶49 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

We are never quite as happy, or as unhappy, as we think.

[On n’est jamais si heureux ni si malheureux qu’on s’imagine.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶49 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]
(Source)

Present in the first edition. In the first four editions, the concluding words were "... que l’on pense [whatever one thinks]." In the manuscript, this maxim read:

One is never so unhappy as one fears, nor so happy as one hopes.
[On n’est jamais si malheureux qu’on craint, ni si heureux qu’on espère.]

Another manuscript version is what the Davies translation below derives from:

Les biens et les maux sont plus grands dans notre imagination qu’ils ne le sont en effet, et on n’est jamais si heureux ni si malheureux que l’on pense.

Above notes. (Source (French)). Other translations:

Goods and Evils are much greater in our imaginations of them, than they are in effect; and men are never so happy or unhappy, as they think themselves.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶128; see above.]

None are either so happy or so unhappy, as they imagine.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶211; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶49]

No person is either so happy;, or so unhappy, as he imagines.
[ed. Carville (1835), ¶184]

We are never so happy, or so unhappy, as we imagine.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶50]

We are never so happy or so unhappy as we suppose.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871); tr. Stevens (1939)]

We are never as happy or unhappy as we think.
[tr. Heard (1917)]

We are never so happy or so unhappy as we think.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959)]

We are never as fortunate or as unfortunate as we suppose.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]

We are never so happy nor so unhappy as we imagine.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]

Peters, Ellis -- Cadfael Chronicles No. 14, The Rose Rent, ch. 2 (1986)

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

“God does indeed forbid,” said Radulfus dryly, “that we should make more of our virtues or our failings than is due. More than your due you shall not have of, neither praise nor blame.”

Ellis Peters (1913–1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Cadfael Chronicles No. 14, The Rose Rent, ch. 2 (1986)
(Source)