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
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)]

Serling, Rod -- Letter to Playboy Magazine (Jun 1966)

Dave — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 15:32:03 +0000

There is a breed of lay and social scientist who will forever cling to a concept of “defeating by ignoring.” Hence, when out of the muck of their own neuroses rise these self-proclaimed Fuhrers, there is this well-meaning body who tell us that if we turn both eyes and cheeks, the nutsies will disappear simply by lack of exposure.

My guess is that, in this case, exposure is tantamount to education; and education here, is a most salutary instruction into the mentalities, the motives and the modus operandi of an animal pack that is discounted by the aged maxim that “it can’t happen here.” So might have said the Goethes and the Einsteins of a pre-war Germany, who thought then, as we do now, that civilization by itself protects against a public acceptance of the uncivilized.

What is desperately needed to combat any ism is precisely what “Playboy” has given us — an interview in-depth that shows us the facets of the enemy. Yes, gentlemen, you may be knocked for supposedly lending some kind of credence to a brand of lunacy. But my guess is that you should be given a commendation for a public service of infinite value.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Letter to Playboy Magazine (Jun 1966)
(Source)

Addressing criticism of the magazine for running in April 1966 an Alex Haley interview of American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell. Quoted in Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (2013).

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:50:24 +0000

To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

Nash, Ogden -- “The Parent,” Happy Days (1933)

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

Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore,
And that’s what parents were created for.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“The Parent,” Happy Days (1933)
(Source)