WIST Quotations

Carlyle, Thomas -- Lecture (1840-05-15), “The Hero as Priest,” Home House, Portman Square, London

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 19:07:01 +0000

Is not every true Reformer, by the nature of him, a Priest first of all? He appeals to Heaven’s invisible justice against Earth’s visible force; knows that it, the invisible, is strong and alone strong. He is a believer in the divine truth of things; a seer, seeing through the shows of things; a worshipper, in one way or the other, of the divine truth of things; a Priest, that is. If he be not first a Priest, he will never be good for much as a Reformer.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-15), “The Hero as Priest,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)

The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 4 (1841).

Jacobs, Jane -- Dark Age Ahead, ch. 5 (2004)

Dave — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:50:02 +0000

Virtually all ideologues, of any variety, are fearful and insecure, which is why they are drawn to ideologies that promise prefabricated answers for all circumstances.

Jane Jacobs (1916–2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist
Dark Age Ahead, ch. 5 (2004)
(Source)

Austen, Jane -- Pride and Prejudice, ch. 18 [Elizabeth] (1813)

Dave — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 19:40:25 +0000

It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion, to be secure of judging properly at first.

Jane Austen (1775–1817) English author
Pride and Prejudice, ch. 18 [Elizabeth] (1813)
(Source)

Todorov, Tzvetan -- Hope and Memory: Reflections on the Twentieth Century, ch. 5 “The Past in the Present” (2003)

Dave — Fri, 13 May 2022 16:33:32 +0000

A maxim for the twenty-first century might well be to start not by fighting evil in the name of good, but by attacking the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found. We should struggle not against the devil himself but what allows the devil to live — Manichaean thinking itself.

Tzvetan Todorov (1939–2017) Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, literary critic, sociologist
Hope and Memory: Reflections on the Twentieth Century, ch. 5 “The Past in the Present” (2003)
(Source)

Paraphrased variant:

We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found.

Hertzberg, Hendrik -- “A Moral Ideologue: The Character of Jimmy Carter,” Character Above All, PBS (31 May 1995)

Dave — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 19:49:06 +0000

A political ideology is a very handy thing to have. It’s a real time-saver, because it tells you what you think about things you know nothing about.

Hendrik Hertzberg (b. 1943) American journalist, editor, speech writer, political commentator
“A Moral Ideologue: The Character of Jimmy Carter,” Character Above All, PBS (31 May 1995)
(Source)

Preparation essay for the PBS series on modern presidents. The passage itself is referring, in contrast, to Ronald Reagan, who defeated Carter for reelection as US President in 1980.

Parker, Robert -- Hush Money (1999)

Dave — Wed, 31 May 2017 17:09:20 +0000

He took my seat and smiled again, like an affable crocodile. He was probably a very principled man, too. So were they all, all principled men. And women. There were few things more annoying than a visibly principled person. Or more troublesome. Most of the ones I’d met could have used a little uncertainty to dilute their principled-ness.

Robert B. Parker (1932–2010) American writer
Hush Money (1999)
(Source)

Broun, Heywood -- “A New Preface to an Old Story”, Broun’s Nutmeg (19 Aug 1939)

Dave — Wed, 03 May 2017 20:10:10 +0000

There is no proselyter half so energetic as the hard-shelled atheist.

Heywood Broun (1888–1939) American journalist, author
“A New Preface to an Old Story”, Broun’s Nutmeg (19 Aug 1939)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 85 (1951)

Dave — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 04:31:21 +0000

The practice of terror serves the true believer not only to cow and crush his opponents but also to invigorate and intensify his own faith.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 85 (1951)
(Source)

Hammarskjold, Dag -- “The Walls of Distrust,” speech, Cambridge University (5 Jun 1958)

Dave — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 19:07:11 +0000

The conflict to different approaches to the liberty of man and mind or between different views of human dignity and the right of the individual is continuous. The dividing line goes within ourselves, within our own peoples, and also within other nations. It does not coincide with any political or geographical boundaries. The ultimate fight is one between the human and the subhuman. We are on dangerous ground if we believe that any individual, any nation, or any ideology has a monopoly on rightness, liberty, and human dignity.

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) Swedish diplomat, author, UN Secretary-General (1953–61)
“The Walls of Distrust,” speech, Cambridge University (5 Jun 1958)

Watts, Isaac -- The Improvement of the Mind, ch. 1 (1741)

Dave — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:55:20 +0000

A dogmatical spirit inclines a man to be censorious of his neighbors. Every one of his opinions appears to him written, as it were, with sunbeams, and he grows angry that his neighbors do not see it in the same light. He is tempted to disdain his correspondents as men of low and dark understandings because they do not believe what he does.

Isaac Watts (1674–1748) English theologian and hymnodist
The Improvement of the Mind, ch. 1 (1741)