WIST Quotations

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 76 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]

Dave — Mon, 26 May 2025 18:10:01 +0000

Nature meant there to be illusions for the wise as well as the foolish, so that the wise should not be made too unhappy by their wisdom.

[La Nature a voulu que les illusions fussent pour les sages comme pour les fous, afin que les premiers ne fussent pas trop malheureux par leur propre sagesse.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741–1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 76 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

It is nature’s will that wise men have their illusions as well as fools, to the end that they be not made too unhappy by their own wisdom.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902)]

Nature intended illusions for the wise as well as for fools, lest the former should be rendered too miserable by their wisdom.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

Nature wanted wise men to have as many illusions as fools, so that they wouldn't become too unhappy through their wisdom.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Nature has decreed that wise men and fools both have illusions; this is to prevent the wise man from becoming too unhappy as a result of his wisdom.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶62]

~Other -- Murphy’s Law for Grunts

Dave — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 13:08:32 +0000

If it’s stupid but works, it ain’t stupid.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Murphy’s Law for Grunts

In Paul Dixon, "Getting a Handle on Life's Slippery Truths," San Francisco Chronicle (24 Dec 1992)

Hubbard, Kin -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 15:53:39 +0000

Beauty is only skin deep, but it is a valuable asset if you are poor or have not any sense.

Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868–1930) American caricaturist and humorist
(Attributed)

See Thomas Adams.

Conquest, Robert -- “Conquest’s Second Law”

Dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 13:12:52 +0000

Every organization appears to be headed by secret agents of its opponents.

Robert Conquest (b. 1917) Anglo-American historian, diplomat, poet
“Conquest’s Second Law”

Attributed in Kingsley Amis, Memoirs (1991). Also known as "Conquest's Law of Organizations."

Variants:

"Every organisation behaves as if it is run by secret agents of its opponents."
"The behavior of any organization can best be predicted on the assumption that it is headed by a secret cabal of its enemies."

Cowper, William -- The Task, Book 3, l. 187 (1785)

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

Exactness is the sublimity of fools.

[L’exactitude est le sublime des sots.]

William Cowper (1731–1800) English poet
The Task, Book 3, l. 187 (1785)

Descartes, René -- Discourse on Method [Discours de la méthode], Part 1, Opening Words (1637) [tr. Haldane & Ross (1911)]

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

Good sense is of all things in the world the most equally distributed, for everybody thinks he is so well supplied with it, that even those most difficult to please in all other matters never desire more of it than they already possess.

[Le bon sens est la chose du monde la mieux partagée; car chacun pense en être si bien pourvu, que ceux même qui sont les plus difficiles à contenter en toute autre chose n’ont point coutume d’en désirer plus qu’ils en ont.]

René Descartes (1596–1650) French philosopher, mathematician
Discourse on Method [Discours de la méthode], Part 1, Opening Words (1637) [tr. Haldane & Ross (1911)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

Right understanding is the most equally divided thing in the World; for every one beleevs himself so well stor’d with it, that even those who in all other things are the hardest to be pleas’d, seldom desire more of it then they have.
[Newcombe ed. (1649)]

Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for every one thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even who are the most difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a larger measure of this quality than they already possess.
[tr. Veitch (1850)]

Good sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world; for everyone thinks himself so well supplied with it, that even those who are hardest ot satisfy in every other way do not usually desire more of it than they already have.
[tr. Ascombe & Geach (1971)]

Good sense is the best distributed thing in the world: for everyone thinks himself so well endowed with it that even those who are hardest to please in everything else do not usually desire more of it than they possess.
[tr. Cottingham, Stoothoff (1985), sec. 1]

Common sense is the best distributed commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.
[Oxford Reference]

Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are the hardest to satisfy in every other respect never desire more of it than they already have.

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.

France, Anatole -- (Spurious)

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

If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.

[Si 50 millions de personnes disent une bêtise, c’est quand même une bêtise.]

Anatole France (1844–1924) French poet, journalist, novelist, Nobel Laureate [pseud. of Jaques-Anatole-François Thibault]
(Spurious)

Sometimes also misattributed to Bertrand Russell. The closest to this specific quotation comes from W. Somerset Maugham. More information about this quotation, including the source of this misattribution and an analogous phrase France did use: If Fifty Million People Say a Foolish Thing, It Is Still a Foolish Thing – Quote Investigator.