WIST Quotations

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado

Dave — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:33:50 +0000

The doctrine of eternal pain is my trouble with this Christian religion. I reject it on account of its infinite heartlessness.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado
(Source)

Published as its own book in 1884. See Dante (1309).

Wilde, Oscar -- Essay (1891-02), “The Soul of Man Under Socialism,” Fortnightly Review, Vol. 49 (ns)

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 22:10:11 +0000

Sometimes the poor are praised for being thrifty. But to recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
Essay (1891-02), “The Soul of Man Under Socialism,” Fortnightly Review, Vol. 49 (ns)
(Source)

Billings, Josh -- Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 155 “Affurisms: Ink Lings” (1874)

Dave — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 15:32:08 +0000

Thare iz a grate deal ov charity in this world so koldly rendered that it fairly hurts, it iz like lifting a drowning man out ov the water bi the hair ov the hed, and then letting him drop on the ground.

[There is a great deal of charity in this world so coldly rendered that it fairly hurts. It is like lifting a drowning man out of the water by the hair of the head, and then letting him drop on the ground.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 155 “Affurisms: Ink Lings” (1874)
(Source)

Gibran, Kahlil -- “The Sayings of the Brook [Ma Taqul al-Saqiyah]” [tr. Sheban]

Dave — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 20:58:08 +0000

Hell is not in torture.
Hell is in an empty heart.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
“The Sayings of the Brook [Ma Taqul al-Saqiyah]” [tr. Sheban]
(Source)

Barrie, James -- Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 “When Wendy Grew Up” [Jane to Wendy] (1911)

Dave — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:25:50 +0000

“Why can’t you fly now, mother?”
“Because I am grown up, dearest. When people grow up they forget the way.”
“Why do they forget the way?”
“Because they are no longer gay and innocent and heartless. It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who can fly.”

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 “When Wendy Grew Up” [Jane to Wendy] (1911)

In his 1908 sequel play, When Wendy Grew Up, An Afterthought (some which was eventually folded into the main play (1904, published 1928) in Act 5, though not these lines), this is rendered:

JANE: Why can't you fly now, Mother?
WENDY: Because I'm grown up, sweetheart; when people grow up they forget the way.
JANE: Why do they forget the way?
WENDY: Because they are no longer young and innocent. It is only the young and innocent that can fly.

Dinesen, Isak -- “The Old Chevalier,” Seven Gothic Tales (1934)

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

Love, with very young people, is a heartless business. We drink at that age from thirst, or to get drunk; it is only later in life that we occupy ourselves with the individuality of our wine.

Isak Dinesen (1885-1962) Danish writer [pseud. of Karen Christence, Countess Blixen]
“The Old Chevalier,” Seven Gothic Tales (1934)
(Source)