WIST Quotations

Howe, Irving -- “The Agony of the Campus,” Dissent #16 (Sep-Oct 1969)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 20:36:37 +0000

Politics is, among other things, the art of anticipating consequences, and even trying to anticipate unfamiliar consequences.

Irving Howe (1920-1993) American literary and social critic [b. Irving Horenstein]
“The Agony of the Campus,” Dissent #16 (Sep-Oct 1969)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 30, The Wee Free Men, ch. 5 (2003)

Dave — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 21:19:59 +0000

“We canna just rush in, ye ken.”
A big bearded Feegle raised his hand. “Point ‘o order, Big Man. Ye can just rush in. We always just rush in.”
“Aye, Big Yan, point well made. But ye gotta know where ye’re just gonna rush in. Ye cannae just rush in anywhere. It looks bad, havin’ to rush oout again straight awa’.”

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 30, The Wee Free Men, ch. 5 (2003)
(Source)

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 151 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

The pillow is a silent Sibyl, and to sleep upon an enterprise avails more than to be sleepless under it.

[Es la almohada Sibila muda, y el dormir sobre los puntos vale más que el desvelarse debajo de ellos.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 151 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

The Pillow is a dumb Sibylle. To sleep upon a thing that is to be done, is better than to be awaked by a thing already done.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

The pillow is a silent Sibyl, and it is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

The pillow is a tongueless sibyl, and it is better to sleep on something than to lie awake when things are on top of you.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]