WIST Quotations

Adams, Douglas -- Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 3, Life, the Universe, and Everything, ch. 2 (1982)

Dave — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:15:33 +0000

He gazed keenly into the distance and looked as if he would quite like the wind to blow his hair back dramatically at that point, but the wind was busy fooling around with some leaves a little way off.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 3, Life, the Universe, and Everything, ch. 2 (1982)
(Source)

Describing Ford Prefect.

Heywood, John -- Proverbs, Part 2, ch. 5 (1546)

Dave — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:14:04 +0000

A cat may looke on a King.

John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbs, Part 2, ch. 5 (1546)
(Source)

Revised spelling from the 1874 edition. Original editions had it, "A cat maie looke on a kyng." This is the earliest text found with this recorded as an English proverb.

Thomas Fuller included the phrase ("A Cat may look upon a King") in his Gnomologia, # 35 (1732).

For more information on this phrase and its history, see: meaning and origin of the phrase ‘a cat may look at a king’ – word histories.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “When I too long have looked upon your face,” ll. 5-8, Second April, Sonnet 7 (1921)

Dave — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 21:16:52 +0000

I turn away reluctant from your light,
And stand irresolute, a mind undone,
A silly, dazzled thing deprived of sight
From having looked too long upon the sun.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“When I too long have looked upon your face,” ll. 5-8, Second April, Sonnet 7 (1921)
(Source)