WIST Quotations

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Dave — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 14:44:27 +0000

We hear only half of what is said to us, understand only half of that, believe only half of that, and remember only half of that.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
(Source)

Krutch, Joseph Wood -- Baja California and the Geography of Hope, Introduction (1967)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 19:25:26 +0000

Bad roads act as filters. They separate those who are sufficiently appreciative of what lies beyond the blacktop to be willing to undergo mild inconvenience from that much larger number of travelers which is not willing. The rougher the road, the finer the filter.

Joseph Wood Krutch (1893-1970) American educator, writer, critic, naturalist
Baja California and the Geography of Hope, Introduction (1967)
(Source)

This was a thought that Krutch adapted and repeated in a number of writings.

In The Forgotten Peninsula, A Naturalist in Baja California, Prologue (1961), Krutch quotes an acquaintance as saying, regarding the peninsula's unspoiled beauty, "Baja is a splendid example of how much bad roads can do for a country." This quotation was often misattributed directly to him, and he adopted the sentiment.

Late in his life (Winter 1967-68), Krutch was interviewed by Edward Abbey for Sage magazine (reprinted in One Life at a Time, Please (1988)), and discussed the proposed development of the new Canyonlands National Park:

Too many people use their automobiles not as a means to get to the parks but rather use the parks as a place to take their automobiles. What our national parks need are not more good roads but more bad roads. [...] There’s nothing like a good bad dirt road to screen out the faintly interested and to invite in the genuinely interested.

Adams, Douglas -- Dirk Gently No. 1, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 23 [Dirk] (1987)

Dave — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 20:04:46 +0000

Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn’t developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don’t expect to see.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Dirk Gently No. 1, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 23 [Dirk] (1987)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 1, ch. 4 “Body and soul; soul and mind” (1977)

Dave — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 19:29:39 +0000

The emotions I feel are no more meant to be shown in their unadulterated state than the inner organs by which we live.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 1, ch. 4 “Body and soul; soul and mind” (1977)
(Source)

Originally printed as an essay (1977-11-14), "Thinking -- I," The New Yorker (1977-11-21).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 23:02:22 +0000

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. We can only see what we are, and if we misbehave we suspect others.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Allingham, William -- Blackberries Picked Off Many Bushes (1884)

Dave — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:57:48 +0000

To think all you say, is but candour;
To say all you think, would be slander.

William Allingham (1824–1889) Irish poet, diarist
Blackberries Picked Off Many Bushes (1884)
(Source)

Carlyle, Thomas -- (Misattributed)

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

In every object there is inexhaustible meaning; the eye sees in it what the eye brings means of seeing.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Misattributed)

Carlyle uses this phrase in his The French Revolution: A History, Part 1, Book 1, ch. 2 (1.1.2) (1837), but brackets it in quotations, and prefaces it with "For indeed it is well said ...." Nevertheless, the phrase is often misattributed directly to Carlyle.

The second half of the phrase (and sometimes the whole thing) has also been misattributed to Johann von Goethe, as "The eye sees only what the eye brings means of seeing." This is not found in Goethe's work, but may be distorted from a line in the Prologue to Goethe's Faust: "Each one sees what he carries in his heart."

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1992-09-28)

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

CALVIN: It’s not denial. I’m just very selective about the reality I accept.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1992-09-28)
(Source)