WIST Quotations

Wilder, Laura Ingalls -- “Just a Question of Tact,” Missouri Ruralist (1916-10-05)

Dave — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 14:49:00 +0000

Tact does for life just what lubricating oil does for machinery. It makes the wheels run smoothly, and without it there is a great deal of friction and the possibility of a breakdown.

Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) American writer
“Just a Question of Tact,” Missouri Ruralist (1916-10-05)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- Essay (1933-02-01) “On Tact,” New York American

Dave — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 14:16:19 +0000

I think the gist of the matter is that a saint can live without politeness, and indeed that politeness is incompatible with a saintly character. But the man who is always to be sincere must be free from spite and envy and malice and pettiness. Most of us have a dose of these vices in our composition and therefore have to excerise tact to avoid giving offence. We cannot all be saints, and if saintliness is impossible, we may at least try not to be too disagreeable.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Essay (1933-02-01) “On Tact,” New York American
(Source)

Austen, Jane -- Mansfield Park, ch. 5 [Henry Crawford to Mary] (1814)

Dave — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 19:36:21 +0000

Depend upon it, you see but half. You see the evil [of matrimony], but you do not see the consolation. There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere — and those evil-minded observers, dearest Mary, who make much of a little, are more taken in and deceived than the parties themselves.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Mansfield Park, ch. 5 [Henry Crawford to Mary] (1814)
(Source)

McCarthy, Eugene -- Quoted (1979-02-12), “People: On the Record” section, Time Magazine

Dave — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:47:05 +0000

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.

Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005) American politician, poet, activist
Quoted (1979-02-12), “People: On the Record” section, Time Magazine
(Source)

(Backup Source). See Truman (1959).

Alinsky, Saul -- Rules for Radicals, “The Purpose” (1971)

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

Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.

Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) American community organizer, writer.
Rules for Radicals, “The Purpose” (1971)
(Source)