WIST Quotations

Fowler, Gene -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 01:58:33 +0000

What is success? It is a toy balloon among children armed with pins.

Gene Fowler (1890-1960) American journalist, author, and dramatist. [b. Eugene Devlan]
(Attributed)

This is attributed in multiple sources to Fowler's Skyline: A Reporter's Reminiscence of the 1920s (1961), but searches of two copies do not find this text.

In her biography The Whole Truth and Nothing But (1963), Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper wrote:

One of the men I loved most above all others was Gene Fowler. He once wrote me a letter from London. “What is success?" he asked. “I shall tell you out of the wisdom of my years. It is a toy balloon among children armed with sharp pins."

The line is also shows up in Art Cohn, The Nine Lives of Michael Todd, ch. 19 "I Love You" (1958).

MacInnes, Helen -- The Venetian Affair, ch. 11 [Fenner] (1963)

Dave — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:30:58 +0000

Civilization is a perishable commodity.

Helen MacInnes (1907-1985) Scottish-American writer
The Venetian Affair, ch. 11 [Fenner] (1963)
(Source)

Browne, Thomas -- Religio Medici, Part 1, sec. 44 (1643)

Dave — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 14:46:25 +0000

Men that look no further than their outsides, think health an appurtenance unto life, and quarrel with their constitutions for being sick; but I that have examined the parts of man, and know upon what tender filaments that fabric hangs, do wonder that we are not always so; and considering the thousand doors that lead to death, do thank my God that we can die but once.

[Men that looke no further than their outsides thinke health an appertinance unto life, and quarrell with their constitutions for being sick; but I that have examined the parts of man, and know upon what tender filaments that Fabrick hangs, doe wonder that we are not alwayes so; and considering the thousand dores that lead to death doe thanke my God that we can die but once.]

Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Religio Medici, Part 1, sec. 44 (1643)
(Source)

Koontz, Dean -- Forever Odd, ch. 33 (2005)

Dave — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 16:18:55 +0000

The less depth a belief system has, the greater the fervency with which its adherents embrace it. The most vociferous, the most fanatical are those whose cobbled faith is founded on the shakiest grounds.

Dean Koontz (b. 1945) American writer [also writes as Leigh Nichols]
Forever Odd, ch. 33 (2005)
(Source)