WIST Quotations

Tolstoy, Leo -- Path of Life [Calendar of Wisdom; Круг чтения], ch. 21 “Living in the Present,” sec. 6.2 (1903-1911) [(tr. Cote (2002)]

Dave — Mon, 25 May 2026 07:27:36 +0000

If you are able to see all the consequences of what you are doing, then what you are doing is not very important.

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
Path of Life [Calendar of Wisdom; Круг чтения], ch. 21 “Living in the Present,” sec. 6.2 (1903-1911) [(tr. Cote (2002)]
(Source)

McCarthy, Cormac -- The Crossing [Quijada] (1994)

Dave — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 20:59:53 +0000

If people knew the story of their lives how many would then elect to live them?

Cormac McCarthy (1933–2023) American novelist, playwright, screenwriter
The Crossing [Quijada] (1994)
(Source)

Often mis-cited to All the Pretty Horses (1992), the first part of the Border Trilogy (this is the second).

Commager, Henry Steele -- Interview (1970-02) by John A. Garraty, “American Nationalism,” Interpreting American History: Conversations with Historians, Part 1, ch. 4 (1970)

Dave — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 17:33:36 +0000

We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn’t foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Interview (1970-02) by John A. Garraty, “American Nationalism,” Interpreting American History: Conversations with Historians, Part 1, ch. 4 (1970)
(Source)

Excerpted in "Conversations with Historians," American Heritage magazine (1970-02).

Fussell, Paul -- “Thank God for the Atom Bomb,” The New Republic (26 Aug 1981)

Dave — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:20:48 +0000

The past, which as always did not know the future, acted in ways that ask to be imagined before they are condemned. Or even simplified.

Paul Fussell (1924–2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
“Thank God for the Atom Bomb,” The New Republic (26 Aug 1981)
(Source)

Reprinted in Thank God for the Atom Bomb and Other Essays (1988).

Snicket, Lemony -- The End (2006)

Dave — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 15:26:04 +0000

Perhaps if we saw what was ahead of us, and glimpsed the crimes, follies, and misfortunes that would befall us later on, we would all stay in our mother’s wombs, and there would be nobody in the world but a great number of very fat, very irritated women.

Lemony Snicket (b. 1970) American author, screenwriter, musician (pseud. for Daniel Handler)
The End (2006)

Abrams, M. H. -- In “Honored literary scholar M. H. Abrams continues his labors (of love),” interview, The Cornell Chronicle (10 Jun 1999)

Dave — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:15:07 +0000

If you learn one thing from having lived through decades of changing views, it is that all predictions are necessarily false.

M. H. Abrams (1912–2015) American literary critic [Meyer (Mike) Howard Abrams]
In “Honored literary scholar M. H. Abrams continues his labors (of love),” interview, The Cornell Chronicle (10 Jun 1999)

Shakespeare, William -- Julius Caesar, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 133ff (5.1.133-136) (1599)

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

BRUTUS: O, that a man might know
The end of this day’s business ere it come!
But it sufficeth that the day will end,
And then the end is known.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 133ff (5.1.133-136) (1599)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 83 (5.3.83) (1606)

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

REGAN: Jesters do oft prove prophets.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 83 (5.3.83) (1606)
(Source)

Frequently misattributed (with "often" for "oft") to Joseph Addison.