WIST Quotations

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 1.1 “Justice and Justification”

Dave — Fri, 01 May 2026 18:06:33 +0000

It is the business of this life to make excuses for others, but none for ourselves. We should be clearly persuaded of our own misconduct, for that is the part of knowledge in which we are most apt to be defective.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 1.1 “Justice and Justification”
(Source)

A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in the Edinburgh Edition of his Works, vol. 28 (1898).

Crisp, Quentin -- The Naked Civil Servant, ch. 29 (1968)

Dave — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 17:54:38 +0000

Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms for its weaknesses.

Quentin Crisp (1908-1999) English writer and raconteur [b. Denis Pratt]
The Naked Civil Servant, ch. 29 (1968)

Kennedy, Florynce -- The Pathology of Oppression (unpub.)

Dave — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 19:27:45 +0000

Loserism is when oppressed people sit around and think up reasons why they can’t do something. Well just do it. Thinking up reasons why you can’t is the Establishment’s job.

Florynce "Flo" Kennedy (1916-2000) American lawyer, feminist, civil rights activist
The Pathology of Oppression (unpub.)

Quoted in "Lawyer Flo Kennedy Enjoys Her Reputation as Radicalism's Rudest Mouth," People (14 Apr 1975).

Lindbergh, Anne Morrow -- Gift From the Sea (1955)

Dave — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 00:48:05 +0000

The world today does not understand, in either man or woman, the need to be alone. How inexplicable it seems. Anything else will be accepted as a better excuse. If one sets aside time for a business appointment, a trip to the hairdresser, a social engagement or a shopping expedition, that time is accepted as inviolable. But if one says: I cannot come because that is my hour to be alone, one is considered rude, egotistical or strange. What a commentary on our civilization, when being alone is considered suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices it — like a secret vice!

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001) American writer, pilot
Gift From the Sea (1955)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Animal Farm, ch. 3 (1945)

Dave — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 21:36:55 +0000

[T]he behaviour of the cat was somewhat peculiar. It was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found. She would vanish for hours on end, and then reappear at meal-times, or in the evening after work was over, as though nothing had happened. But she always made such excellent excuses, and purred so affectionately, that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Animal Farm, ch. 3 (1945)
(Source)

Acton, John Dalberg (Lord) -- Letter (1887-04-05) to Mandell Creighton

Dave — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 12:54:07 +0000

The inflexible integrity of the moral code is, to me, the secret of the authority, the dignity, the utility of History. If we may debase the currency for the sake of genius, or success, or rank, or reputation, we may debase it for the sake of a man’s influence, of his religion, of his party, of the good cause which prospers by his credit and suffers by his disgrace. Then History ceases to be a science, an arbiter of controversy, a guide of the Wanderer, the upholder of that moral standard which the powers of earth and religion itself tend constantly to depress. It serves where it ought to reign; and it serves the worst cause better than the purest.

John Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) British historian, politician, writer
Letter (1887-04-05) to Mandell Creighton