WIST Quotations

Barzun, Jacques -- Essay (1989), “Look It Up! Check It Out!” The Culture We Deserve

Dave — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:40:54 +0000

To say this is also to say that the age of ready reference is one in which knowledge inevitably declines into information. The master of so much packaged stuff has less need to grasp context or meaning than his forbears: he can always look it up. His active memory is otherwise engaged anyway, full of the arbitrary names, initials, and code figures essential to carrying on daily life. He can be vague about the rest: he can always check it out.

Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) French-American historian, educator, polymath
Essay (1989), “Look It Up! Check It Out!” The Culture We Deserve
(Source)

An earlier version of this essay was published in The American Scholar (1986, Autumn).

Kolbert, Elizabeth -- “The Things People Say,” The New Yorker (2009-11-02)

Dave — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 14:13:10 +0000

There is virtually no opinion an individual can hold that is so outlandish that he will not find other believers on the Web.

Elizabeth Kolbert (b. 1961) American journalist and author
“The Things People Say,” The New Yorker (2009-11-02)
(Source)

Martin, Judith -- In “Polite Company,” interview by Hara Estroff Marano, Psychology Today (1998-03)

Dave — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 16:38:12 +0000

There are etiquette rules being spread all over the Internet. They often use new terms for old rudenesses. Flaming is insulting people. Spamming is trying to do business while other people are having a social time. Having spent a lifetime with people who tell me I must be old-fashioned to care about etiquette, I could, if I were not so polite, turn around and say, “Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah, you’re the one who is old-fashioned if you think that etiquette is old-fashioned — you obviously don’t spend time on the Internet.”

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
In “Polite Company,” interview by Hara Estroff Marano, Psychology Today (1998-03)
(Source)

Gilmore, John -- Quoted in Phillip Elmer-Dewitt, “First Nation in Cyberspace,” Time (6 Dec 1993)

Dave — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 18:30:11 +0000

The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.

John Gilmore (b. 1955) Computer scientist, developer, civil liberties activist
Quoted in Phillip Elmer-Dewitt, “First Nation in Cyberspace,” Time (6 Dec 1993)
(Source)

Sometimes misquoted with "a defect" instead of "damage". Gilmore was speaking of Usenet specifically, though he acknowledges that the principle can be observed on the (now broader) Internet.

More discussion about this quotation: The Net Interprets Censorship As Damage and Routes Around It – Quote Investigator.

Jillette, Penn -- “Free Celebrity Nudes!” Penn’s Columns (15 Oct 1997)

Dave — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 20:58:35 +0000

That’s the beauty of the Web: You can roll around in a stranger’s obsession without having to smell his or her house. You can amscray whenever you want without being rude. The site gets its “hit” and you know more about our species’ diversity.

Penn Jillette (b. 1955) American stage magician, actor, musician, author
“Free Celebrity Nudes!” Penn’s Columns (15 Oct 1997)
(Source)

Cunningham, Ward -- “Cunningham’s Law”

Dave — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 18:27:12 +0000

The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the wrong answer.

Howard G. "Ward" Cunningham (b. 1949) American computer scientist
“Cunningham’s Law”
(Source)

Cunningham himself denies having said this. It was attributed to him (and so named) by Steven McGeady in the early 1980s.

Franklin, Benjamin -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 23:28:48 +0000

Fake quotes will ruin the Internet.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)

Mikkelson, Barbara -- “Can Altoids mints enhance your sexual experience?” Snopes.com (1997)

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

Hey, if you can’t trust an unsigned and untraceable bit of netlore, what can you place your faith in?

Barbara Mikkelson (b. 1959) American urban folklorist
“Can Altoids mints enhance your sexual experience?” Snopes.com (1997)
(Source)

While the article is currently bylined top and bottom by David Mikkelson, it is internally bylined by Barbara. The two divorced in 2014.