WIST Quotations

Hugo, Victor -- Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 8 “Cemeteries Take What is Given Them,” ch. 1 (2.8.1) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]

Dave — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 20:24:10 +0000

Not being heard is no reason for silence.

[N’être pas écouté, ce n’est pas une raison pour se taire.]

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 8 “Cemeteries Take What is Given Them,” ch. 1 (2.8.1) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Not to be heard is no reason why a man should hold his tongue.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

That one is not listened to is no reason for preserving silence.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

Not being heard is no reason for silence.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

Not being listened to is no reason to stop talking.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Dave — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 16:12:46 +0000

We hear only half of what is said to us, understand only half of that, believe only half of that, and remember only half of that.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
(Source)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 21:23:31 +0000

To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) American writer [Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald]
(Attributed)

No actual citation found. Also often attributed (also without citation) to Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Douglass, Frederick -- “A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston” (9 Dec 1880)

Dave — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 17:15:20 +0000

Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money.

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston” (9 Dec 1880)
(Source)

Goethe, Johann von -- Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893), “Life and Character,” #383]

Dave — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 18:35:22 +0000

Every man hears only what he understands.

[Es hört doch jeder nur, was er versteht.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893), “Life and Character,” #383]
(Source)

Posthumous, on "Literature and Life." (Source (German)). Alternate translations:

A man hears only that which he understands.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]

For surely everyone only hears what he understands.
[tr. Stopp (1995), "Posthumous," #887]

Arendt, Hannah -- Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Introduction (1977)

Dave — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:36:15 +0000

Nothing we use or hear or touch can be expressed in words that equal what is given by the senses.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Introduction (1977)
(Source)

Originally printed as an essay (1977-11-14), "Thinking -- I," The New Yorker (1977-11-21).

Carlin, George -- Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes (Part 1)”

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

Those who dance are considered insane by those who can’t hear the music.

George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes (Part 1)”
(Source)

This phrase, or its meaning, pre-dates Carlin. Carlin himself attributes it to "Anon." in the epigraph of his next book, Napalm and Silly Putty (2001).

A version of it is often misattributed to Friedrich Nietzsche in this English form:

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

While this English quotation does show up back into the 19th Century, there is no evidence that Nietzsche said it.

For more discussion, see:

The phrase and its meaning are related to Thoreau's metaphor of "marching to the beat of a different drummer."