WIST Quotations

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 558 (1820)

Dave — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 19:44:00 +0000

Habit will reconcile us to every thing but change, and even to change, if it recur not too quickly.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 558 (1820)
(Source)

Adams, Douglas -- The Salmon of Doubt, Part 2 “The Universe” (2002) [ed. Peter Guzzardi]

Dave — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 01:18:39 +0000

I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
The Salmon of Doubt, Part 2 “The Universe” (2002) [ed. Peter Guzzardi]
(Source)

Toffler, Alvin -- Future Shock, Introduction (1970)

Dave — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 17:49:16 +0000

… “[F]uture shock” [is] the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time.

Alvin Toffler (1928-2016) American writer and futurist
Future Shock, Introduction (1970)
(Source)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Republican National Convention, accepting the presidential nomination (23 Aug 1956)

Dave — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 12:27:35 +0000

Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Republican National Convention, accepting the presidential nomination (23 Aug 1956)