WIST Quotations

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-07)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:06:33 +0000

Life is like a camel: you can make it do anything except back up.

Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1945-07)
(Source)

Nansen, Fridtjof -- Speech, St Andrews University (3 Nov 1926)

Dave — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 15:09:50 +0000

Let me tell you the secret of such so-called successes as there have been in my life, and here I believe I give you really good advice. It was to burn my boats and demolish my bridges behind me. Then one loses no time in looking behind, when one should have quite enough to do in looking ahead — then there is no chance for you or your men but forward. You have to do or die!

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian
Speech, St Andrews University (3 Nov 1926)
(Source)

Translated in his Adventure, and Other Papers (1927).

Kierkegaard, Soren -- Journals IV.A.164 (1843)

Dave — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:44:08 +0000

It is perfectly true, as the philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Journals IV.A.164 (1843)

Commonly paraphrased: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

Kennedy, Robert F. -- “Day of Affirmation,” address, University of Capetown, South Africa (6 Jun 1966)

Dave — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 13:43:49 +0000

The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes with even the most peaceful progress. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.

Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) American politician
“Day of Affirmation,” address, University of Capetown, South Africa (6 Jun 1966)
(Source)

Kennedy, John F. -- Speech, Paulskirche, Frankfurt, Germany (25 Jun 1963)

Dave — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 17:34:36 +0000

But Goethe tells us in his greatest poem that Faust lost the liberty of his soul when he said to the passing moment: “Stay, thou art so fair.” And our liberty, too, is endangered if we pause for the passing moment, if we rest on our achievements, if we resist the pace of progress. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Speech, Paulskirche, Frankfurt, Germany (25 Jun 1963)
(Source)

Variant in some locations: "... And those who look only to the past are certain to miss the future."