WIST Quotations

Bacon, Francis -- “Of Vain-Glory,” Essays, No. 54 (1625)

Dave — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 03:38:34 +0000

Glorious men are the scorn of wise men, the admiration of fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of their own vaunts.

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Vain-Glory,” Essays, No. 54 (1625)

Hubbard, Elbert -- Little Journeys to the Homes of American Statemen, “William H. Seward” (1916)

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

If you would escape moral and physical assassination, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing — court obscurity, for only in oblivion does safety lie.

Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
Little Journeys to the Homes of American Statemen, “William H. Seward” (1916)

Variants show up elsewhere in Hubbard's writings and and his quote epigrams.

To escape criticism -- do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
To avoid unkind criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.

Often misattributed to Aristotle.

Boorstin, Daniel J. -- The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, ch. 2, “From Hero to Celebrity: The Human Pseudo-event” (1961)

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

Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models. We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame into notoriety.

Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004) American historian, professor, attorney, writer
The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, ch. 2, “From Hero to Celebrity: The Human Pseudo-event” (1961)