WIST Quotations

Johnson, Lyndon -- Speech (1963-12-13), Consumer Advisory Council, Washington, D.C.

Dave — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 13:16:10 +0000

We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Speech (1963-12-13), Consumer Advisory Council, Washington, D.C.
(Source)

Lehrer, Tom -- People (11 Jan 1982)

Dave — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:31:23 +0000

What good is having laurels if you can’t rest on them?

Tom Lehrer (b. 1928) American mathematician, satirist, songwriter
People (11 Jan 1982)
(Source)

Lehrer has used the phrase and variants many times over the years.

King, Billie Jean -- Billie Jean (1982)

Dave — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 12:53:07 +0000

The trouble with being number one in the world — at anything — is that it takes a certain mentality to attain that position in the first place, and that is something of a driving, perfectionist attitude, so that once you do achieve number one, you don’t relax and enjoy it.

Billie Jean King (b. 1943) American tennis player
Billie Jean (1982)

Kissinger, Henry -- The Necessity for Choice: Prospects of American Foreign Policy, 8.3 (1961)

Dave — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 12:45:00 +0000

Creativity is constantly in danger of being destroyed by success. The more effectively the environment is mastered, the greater is the temptation to rest on one’s oars.

Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
The Necessity for Choice: Prospects of American Foreign Policy, 8.3 (1961)

Kennedy, John F. -- Speech, Paulskirche, Frankfurt, Germany (25 Jun 1963)

Dave — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 17:34:36 +0000

But Goethe tells us in his greatest poem that Faust lost the liberty of his soul when he said to the passing moment: “Stay, thou art so fair.” And our liberty, too, is endangered if we pause for the passing moment, if we rest on our achievements, if we resist the pace of progress. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Speech, Paulskirche, Frankfurt, Germany (25 Jun 1963)
(Source)

Variant in some locations: "... And those who look only to the past are certain to miss the future."