WIST Quotations

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 38 (1647) [tr. Duff (1877)]

Dave — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:27:44 +0000

The intensity of the favour of fortune is often balanced by the shortness of its duration, for fortune gets tired of carrying any one very long upon her shoulders.

[Recompénsase tal vez la brevedad de la duración con la intensión del favor. Cánsase la fortuna de llevar a uno a cuestas tan a la larga.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 38 (1647) [tr. Duff (1877)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

The quality of the pleasure makes sometimes amends for the shortness of the enjoyment. Fortune is weary to carry one and the same man always upon her shoulders.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

Fortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favours by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying any one long on her shoulders.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

Luck always compensates her intensity by her brevity. Fortune wearies of carrying anyone long upon her shoulders.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

Sometimes Lady Luck compensates us, trading intensity for duration. She grows tired when she has to carry someone on her back for a long time.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 38 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]

Dave — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:36:12 +0000

Say farewell to luck when winning: it is the way of the gamblers of reputation: quite as important as a gallant advance is a well-planned retreat, wherefore lock up your winnings when they are enough, or when great.

[Saberse dejar ganando con la fortuna. Es de tahúres de reputación. Tanto importa una bella retirada como una bizarra acometida; un poner en cobro las hazañas cuando fueren bastantes, cuando muchas.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 38 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

To be moderate in good fortune is the part of a good Gamester, when Reputation lies at stake. A brave Retreat is as great as a brave Enterprise. When one hath acted great exploits, he ought to secure the glory of them, by drawing off in time.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

Leave off the game with fortune while you are in luck. -- That is what all the best players do. A fine retreat is worth just as much as a gallant attack. Let a man bring his deeds, when there are a great many and enough of them into safety.
[tr. Duff (1877)]

Leave your Luck while Winning. All the best players do it. A fine retreat is as good as a gallant attack. Bring your exploits under cover when there are enough, or even when there are many of them.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

Quit while you're ahead. All the best gamblers do. A fine retreat matters as much as a stylish attack. As soon as they are enough -- even when they are many -- cash in your deeds.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

Mackay, Charles -- Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “The South-Sea Bubble” (1841)

Dave — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 15:37:57 +0000

Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “The South-Sea Bubble” (1841)
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- Following the Equator, ch. 56, epigraph (1897)

Dave — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 21:30:37 +0000

There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Following the Equator, ch. 56, epigraph (1897)
(Source)

Lents, Nathan -- Human Errors, ch. 6 (2018)

Dave — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 18:45:07 +0000

Why do casinos lavish such gaudy gifts on someone who has just taken piles of their money? To ensure he doesn’t leave. The more gifts they give, the longer the gambler will stay. The longer he stays, the more likely he is to cough up his winnings. In fact, because of the false sense of his own skill he acquired while racking up his temporary purse, he’ll probably end up losing far more than he would have tolerated had he not found himself up in the first place. However cautious and determined people are when they begin, their good judgment goes out the window once they start to win.

Nathan H. Lents (b. 1978) American biologist, author, academic
Human Errors, ch. 6 (2018)
(Source)

Lamb, Charles -- “Mrs. Battle’s Opinions on Whist,” The Essays of Elia (1823)

Dave — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 15:58:19 +0000

Man is a gaming animal. He must be always trying to get the better in something or other.

Charles Lamb (1775-1834) Welsh-English essayist
“Mrs. Battle’s Opinions on Whist,” The Essays of Elia (1823)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, Act 1, sc. 1 [Doge] (1821)

Dave — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:44:06 +0000

You have deeply ventured;
But all must do so who would greatly win.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, Act 1, sc. 1 [Doge] (1821)
(Source)

Algren, Nelson -- A Walk on the Wild Side, ch. 3 (1956)

Dave — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:10:03 +0000

Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

Nelson Algren (1909–1981) American writer [b. Nelson Ahlgren Abraham]
A Walk on the Wild Side, ch. 3 (1956)

~Proverbs and Sayings -- Chinese proverb

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

If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Chinese proverb

La Bruyere, Jean de -- The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 11 “Of Mankind [De l’Homme],” § 99 (11.99) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]

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

All menʼs misfortunes proceed from their aversion to being alone; hence gambling, extravagance, dissipation, wine, women, ignorance, slander, envy, and forgetfulness of what we owe to God and ourselves.

[Tout notre mal vient de ne pouvoir être seuls: de là le jeu, le luxe, la dissipation, le vin, les femmes, l’ignorance, la médisance, l’envie, l’oubli de soi-même et de Dieu.]

Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 11 “Of Mankind [De l’Homme],” § 99 (11.99) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

All men's misfortunes proceed from their inability to be alone, from Gaming, Riot, Extravagance, Wine, Women, Ignorance, Railing, Envy, and forgetting their duty towards God and themselves.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

All our Misfortunes proceed from an Inability to be alone; from thence come Gaming, Riot, Extravagance, Wine, Women, Ignorance, Railing, Envy, and forgetting God and our selves.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

All Mens Misfortunes proceed from their Aversion to being alone; hence Gaming, Riot, Extravagance, Wine, Women, Ignorance, Railing, Envy and Forgetfulness of God and themselves.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

All our misfortunes proceed from our inability to be alone; hence gaming, dissipation, wine, women, ignorance, slander, envy, neglect of God and ourselves.
[tr. Lee (1903)]

All our troubles spring from our inability to endure solitude: hence come gaming, luxury, dissipation, drink, licentiousness, scandal-mongering, envy, the neglect of oneself and of God.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]

Preston, Amarillo Slim -- (Attributed)

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

Look around the table. If you don’t see a sucker, get up, because you’re the sucker.

"Amarillo Slim" Preston (1928-2012) American gambler [Thomas Austin Preston, Jr.]
(Attributed)

Though he used the phrase, he did not take credit for it. More information here. Variants:

"If after ten minutes at the poker table you do not know who the patsy is -- you are the patsy."
"If you sit in on a poker game and don't see a sucker, get up. You're the sucker."
"If you enter a poker game and you don't see a sucker, get up and leave -- you’re it."