WIST Quotations

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)

Dave — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 15:31:08 +0000

Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)
(Source)

Taylor, Barbara Brown -- Essay (1999-11-03), “Divine Subtraction,” Christian Century

Dave — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 18:05:06 +0000

I do not mean to make an idol of health, but it does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least.

Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Essay (1999-11-03), “Divine Subtraction,” Christian Century
(Source)

Herbert, George -- Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 15 (1640 ed.)

Dave — Fri, 17 May 2024 14:31:20 +0000

Light burthens, long borne, growe heavie.

George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 15 (1640 ed.)
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1933-09-04), “Daily Telegram”

Dave — Wed, 01 May 2024 14:25:40 +0000

If we could ever get vacations down to where you wasn’t any more tired on the day one was over than on our regular work day it would be wonderful.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1933-09-04), “Daily Telegram”
(Source)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Don Juan, Canto 1, st. 213 (1818)

Dave — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 14:27:25 +0000

But now at thirty years my hair is gray ––
(I wonder what it will be like at forty?
I thought of a peruke the other day)
My heart is not much greener; and, in short, I
Have squander’d my whole summer while ’twas May,
And feel no more the spirit to retort; I
Have spent my life, both interest and principal,
And deem not, what I deem’d, my soul invincible.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Don Juan, Canto 1, st. 213 (1818)
(Source)

Elders, Joycelyn -- Keynote Speech, Sistersong Conference, Chicago (2007-06-03)

Dave — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 16:39:26 +0000

It [political opposition] is like dancing with a bear. When you’re dancing with a bear, you can’t get tired and sit down. You have to wait for the bear to get tired.

Joycelyn Elders (b. 1933) American pediatrician, public health administrator, academic
Keynote Speech, Sistersong Conference, Chicago (2007-06-03)
(Source)

Zweig, Stefan -- Beware of Pity (1939)

Dave — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 14:06:21 +0000

Long-protracted suffering is apt to exhaust not only the invalid, but the compassion of others; violent emotions cannot be prolonged endlessly.

Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, biographer
Beware of Pity (1939)

Nietzsche, Friedrich -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 00:53:58 +0000

When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
(Attributed)

Frequently attributed to Nietzsche, starting in the late 1950s, but never cited and not found in any of his writings. More discussion here.

Ten Boom, Corrie -- He Cares, He Comforts (1977)

Dave — Mon, 22 May 2017 17:59:09 +0000

Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.

Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983) Dutch evangelist, concentration camp survivor
He Cares, He Comforts (1977)
(Source)

See Spurgeon.

Brandeis, Louis -- Letter to Alfred Brandeis (8 Mar 1897)

Dave — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:23:21 +0000

When a man feels that he cannot leave his work, it is a sure sign of an impending collapse. … When men are so tired, they cannot be trusted in their business judgment and cannot properly tend to their affairs.

Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) American lawyer, activist, Supreme Court Justice (1916-39)
Letter to Alfred Brandeis (8 Mar 1897)
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1878-04), “Æs Triplex,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:44:28 +0000

It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser. It is better to live and be done with it, then to die daily in the sick-room.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-04), “Æs Triplex,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
(Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers (1881).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “Figs from Thistles: First Fig” in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse (1918-06)

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

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night:
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends —
It gives a lovely light!

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“Figs from Thistles: First Fig” in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse (1918-06)
(Source)

Collected in A Few Figs From Thistles (1921).

Cumberland, Richard (1632) -- (Attributed)

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

It is better to wear out than to rust out.

Richard Cumberland (1632-1718) English philosopher and cleric (Bishop of Peterborough)
(Attributed)
(Source)

Quoted in G. Horne, "Sermon on the Duty of Contending for the Truth" (1786).

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Life is one long process of getting tired.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)

Yeats, William Butler -- “Easter 1916,” st. 4, ll. 57-59, Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921)

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

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) Irish poet and dramatist
“Easter 1916,” st. 4, ll. 57-59, Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921)
(Source)