WIST Quotations

Austen, Jane -- Mansfield Park, ch. 4 [Mrs. Grant] (1814)

Dave — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 15:25:01 +0000

I pay very little regard to what any young person says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Mansfield Park, ch. 4 [Mrs. Grant] (1814)
(Source)

Parker, Robert -- Rough Weather (2008)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 03:01:16 +0000

“I truly don’t know her issues,” Weiss said. “But I’ve been in this line of work for a number of years, and my guesses are at least informed by experience.”

“Never a bad thing,” I said.

“Experience can inform,” he said. “It can also distort.”

“Sure,” I said. “But inexperience is rarely useful.”

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) American writer
Rough Weather (2008)

Ebner-Eschenbach, Marie von -- Aphorisms (1890-1905) [tr. Scrase & MIeder (1994)]

Dave — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 12:13:30 +0000

I regret nothing, says arrogance; I will regret nothing, says inexperience.

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms (1890-1905) [tr. Scrase & MIeder (1994)]

Goethe, Johann von -- Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893)]

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

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893)]
(Source)

Goethe's use of this phrase comes up twice in the Maxims and Reflections. Alternate translations:

From Art and Antiquity, Vol. 5, #3, Individual Points (1826):

Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit.
(Source (German))

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.
[tr. Saunders (1893), "Life and Character," sec. 3, #231]

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]

There is nothing more dreadful than active ignorance.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #367]

From Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years (1829):

Auch nichts schrecklicher ist, als die Unwissenheit handeln zu sehen.
(Source(German))

There is no more terrible sight than ignorance in action.
[tr. Saunders (1893), "Life and Character," sec. 1, #52]

There is nothing more terrible than to see ignorance in action.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]

Nothing is more frightful than to see ignorance in action.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #367]