WIST Quotations

Anstey, F. -- Tourmalin’s Time Cheques, ch. 2 “The Second Cheque” (1885)

Dave — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:11:24 +0000

The knowledge that one has a remedy within reach is often as effectual as the remedy itself, if not more so.

F. Anstey (1856–1934) English novelist and journalist (pseud. of Thomas Anstey Guthrie)
Tourmalin’s Time Cheques, ch. 2 “The Second Cheque” (1885)
(Source)

Johnston, Lynn -- For Better or For Worse (31 May 1994)

Dave — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 04:27:29 +0000

An apology is the superglue of life! It can repair just about anything.

Lynn Johnston (b. 1947) Canadian cartoonist
For Better or For Worse (31 May 1994)
(Source)

For more discussion, see here.

Johnson, Samuel -- The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, ch. 4 (1759)

Dave — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:49:35 +0000

That what cannot be repaired is not to be regretted.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, ch. 4 (1759)
(Source)

Publilius Syrus -- Sententiae [Moral Sayings], # 301 [tr. Lyman (1862)]

Dave — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:32:05 +0000

There are some remedies worse than the disease.

Publilius Syrus (d. 42 BC) Assyrian slave, writer, philosopher [less correctly Publius Syrus]
Sententiae [Moral Sayings], # 301 [tr. Lyman (1862)]

Hubbard, Elbert -- A Thousand and One Epigrams (1911)

Dave — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:05 +0000

Don’t make excuses — make good!

Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
A Thousand and One Epigrams (1911)

Marx, Groucho -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:11:12 +0000

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American comedian [b. Julius Henry Marx]
(Misattributed)

Variant 1: "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies."

Variant 2: "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it wrongly, and applying unsuitable remedies."

While popularly attributed to Groucho, there is no clear evidence he used it. The earliest reference I could find attributing the main quote to him (without citation) is in Victor Braude, Braude's Second Encyclopedia of Stories, Quotations, and Anecdotes (1957).

While Bennett Cerf include a similar reference in his syndicated "Try and Stop Me" column in November 1964, it does not show up in his earlier anecdote books such as Try and Stop Me (1944), nor in his meta-collection of anecdotes, Bennett Cerf's Bumper Crop (1958).

Variant 2 above is attributed (without citation) to Sir Ernest Benn in Henry Powell Spring, What Is Truth? (1944). Wikiquote indicates reference to this can be found in a July 1930 newspaper, though without an actual confirming link.

It seems most likely (though not yet fully confirmed) that Benn used his version of the line first, then, with some slight tweaking of the words to fit American sensibilities ("wrongly" to "incorrectly," "unsuitable" to "wrong"), it was applied to a known wit of the period.

Huxley, Aldous -- Time Must Have a Stop (1944)

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

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Time Must Have a Stop (1944)

Shakespeare, William -- Macbeth, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 13ff [Lady Macbeth] (1606)

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

LADY MACBETH: Things without all remedy
Should be without regard: what’s done is done.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 13ff [Lady Macbeth] (1606)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 1, sc. 4, l. 369 (1.4.369) (1606)

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

ALBANY: Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 1, sc. 4, l. 369 (1.4.369) (1606)
(Source)