WIST Quotations

Doctor Who (1963) -- 20xS1 “The Five Doctors,” Part 2 (1983-11-23) [w. Terrance Dicks]

Dave — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 20:52:28 +0000

SARAH JANE: I mean, well, whatever’s in that Tower, it’s got enormous powers and, well, what can we do against it?

THE DOCTOR: What I’ve always done, Sarah Jane. Improvise.

Doctor Who (1963-1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
20xS1 “The Five Doctors,” Part 2 (1983-11-23) [w. Terrance Dicks]
(Source)

(Source (Video); dialog confirmed). This 20th Anniversary special feature was originally broadcast as a feature-length TV movie. For later releases, it was broken into four parts/episodes.

Davis, Miles -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:51:24 +0000

If you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.

Miles Davis (1926-1991) American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer. [Miles Dewey Davis III]
(Attributed)
(Source)

Related by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, whom Davis startled when, after Hancock struck the wrong chord, Davis improvised and riffed off the chord for the remainder of the set. Attributed in W. Richard Patterson, Thinking Straight (2023)

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1989-05-10)

Dave — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 19:38:53 +0000

CALVIN’S DAD: It’s funny … when I was a kid, I thought grown-ups never worried about anything. I trusted my parents to take care of everything, and it never occurred to me that they might not know how. I figured that once you grew up, you automatically knew what to do in any given scenario. I don’t think I would have been in such a hurry to reach adulthood if I’d know the whole thing was going to be ad-libbed.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1989-05-10)
(Source)

After their house has been burgled.

Twain, Mark -- Speech, Society of the Army of the Tennessee Annual Meeting, Chicago (12 Nov 1879)

Dave — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 16:06:58 +0000

But I never was happy, never could make a good impromptu speech without several hours to prepare it.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Speech, Society of the Army of the Tennessee Annual Meeting, Chicago (12 Nov 1879)
(Source)

Twain made quips along this line several times, though there is no evidence he said the more frequently quoted "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." For more discussion, see here.

Rommel, Erwin -- The Rommel Papers, ch. 11 [ed. B. H. Liddell Hart, (1953)]

Dave — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 00:27:07 +0000

Always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible. Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.

Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
The Rommel Papers, ch. 11 [ed. B. H. Liddell Hart, (1953)]
(Source)

Godwin, Gail -- The Odd Woman, ch. 3 [Sonia] (1974)

Dave — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 21:22:00 +0000

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre.

Gail Godwin (b. 1937) American writer
The Odd Woman, ch. 3 [Sonia] (1974)
(Source)

Stross, Charles -- The Apocalypse Codex (2012)

Dave — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 21:33:19 +0000

I’m thinking on the fly, here. (Although now that I’m in middle management I think I’m supposed to call it “refactoring the strategic value proposition in real time with agile implementation,” or, if I’m being honest, “making it up as I go along.”)

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
The Apocalypse Codex (2012)

Kasdan, Lawrence -- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) [with George Lucas, Philip Kaufman]

Dave — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:28:37 +0000

JONES: I’m going after that truck.

SALLAH: How?

JONES: I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go.

Lawrence Kasdan (b. 1949) American screenwriter, director, producer
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) [with George Lucas, Philip Kaufman]

Aaronovitch, Ben -- Broken Homes (2013)

Dave — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:13:07 +0000

As my dad always says, while improvisation and spontaneity may be the hallmarks of great jazz, the hallmark of being a great player is ensuring the rest of the band is spontaneously improvising the way you want them to.

Ben Aaronovitch (b. 1964) British author
Broken Homes (2013)

Welles, Orson -- Comment to Henry Jaglom

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 14:08:29 +0000

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.

Orson Welles (1915-1985) American writer, director, actor
Comment to Henry Jaglom

Quoted by Jaglom in his essay "The Independent Filmmaker" in Jason E. Quire, ed. The Movie Business Book (1992). See here for more information. Sometimes paraphrased in reverse ("The absence of limitations is the enemy of art").

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, “Speech at the Somerville Club” (27 Feb 1895) (1912)

Dave — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:29:10 +0000

Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, “Speech at the Somerville Club” (27 Feb 1895) (1912)

Von Moltke, Helmuth -- “On Strategy” (1871)

Dave — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:35:54 +0000

The tactical result of an engagement forms the base for new strategic decisions because victory or defeat in a battle changes the situation to such a degree that no human acumen is able to see beyond the first battle. In this sense one should understand Napoleon’s saying: “I have never had a plan of operations.” Therefore no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.

Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891) Prussian soldier
“On Strategy” (1871)

Translated in Daniel J. Hughes, Harry Bell, Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings (1993).

Paraphrases / variants:

"No plan survives contact with the enemy."
"No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy."

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-12-11)

Dave — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:59:49 +0000

CALVIN: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.

HOBBES: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re in a tragedy or a farce.

CALVIN: We need more special effects and dance numbers.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-12-11)
(Source)

See Shakespeare.

Hand, Learned -- “At Fourscore,” speech, Harvard Club of New York (1952-01-18)

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

Life is made up of constant calls to action, and we seldom have time for more than hastily contrived answers; to follow one’s hunch is usually better than lying doggo, and rough generalizations that have worked well in the past easily easily take on the authority of universals. It does violence to our inner being to be obliged to give a hearing to opinions widely at variance with those we are accustomed to, and to come to a conclusion unweighted by desire.

Learned Hand (1872-1961) American jurist
“At Fourscore,” speech, Harvard Club of New York (1952-01-18)
(Source)

First published in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin (23 Feb 1952).

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1, “Life” (1912)

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

Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules, for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases, though not often.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1, “Life” (1912)
(Source)

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 “Life,” ix (1912)

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

Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 “Life,” ix (1912)

Full text.