WIST Quotations

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Ignoramus,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)

Dave — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 22:06:08 +0000

IGNORAMUS, n. A person unacquainted with certain kinds of knowledge familiar to yourself, and having certain other kinds that you know nothing about.

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Ignoramus,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1885-08-29).

Wylie, Philip Gordon -- When Worlds Collide (1933) [with Edwin Balmer]

Dave — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 14:27:24 +0000

What egotism, what stupid vanity, to suppose that a thing could not happen because you could not conceive it!

Philip Wylie (1902–1971) American author
When Worlds Collide (1933) [with Edwin Balmer]
(Source)

Kerr, Jean -- Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies

Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:04:15 +0000

If you can keep your head when about you are losing theirs, it’s just possible you haven’t grasped the situation.

Jean Kerr (1922–2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
(Source)

See Kipling, "If --".

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Trinity,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

TRINITY, n. […] The Trinity is one of the most sublime mysteries of our holy religion. In rejecting it because it is incomprehensible, Unitarians betray their inadequate sense of theological fundamentals. In religion we believe only what we do not understand, except in the instance of an intelligible doctrine that contradicts an incomprehensible one. In that case we believe the former as a part of the latter.

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Trinity,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in The Devil's Dictionary [A-Z] as Vol. 7 of his Collected Works.