WIST Quotations

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 138 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]

Dave — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:46:10 +0000

A fountain gets muddy with but little stirring up, and does not get clear by our meddling with it but by our leaving it alone. The best remedy for disturbances is to let them run their course, for so they quiet down.

[Una fuente con poca inquietud se enturbia, ni se volverá a serenar procurándolo, sino dejándola. No hay mejor remedio de los desconciertos que dejarlos correr, que así caen de sí propios.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 138 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

A Well will be troubled if it be in the least stirred, and its water becomes clear again, by ceasing to dabble in it. There is no better remedy for some disorders, than to let them alone. For at long run they stop of themselves.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

A fountain gets turbid by a little movement, and does not become clear by our trying to make it so, but by our leaving it to itself. The best remedy against discord and confusion is to let them run their course, for so they quiet down.
[tr. Duff (1877)]

It takes little to muddy a spring, nor does it clear by being stirred, but by being left alone: there is no better remedy for turmoil, than to let it takes its course, for so it comes to rest of itself.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

It takes little to muddy a stream. you can't make it grow clear by trying to, only by leaving it alone. There is no better remedy for disorder than to leave it alone to correct itself.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

Johnson, Samuel -- Essay (1758-07-15), The Idler, No. 14

Dave — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 17:16:24 +0000

To put every man in possession of his own time, and rescue the day from the succession of usurpers, is beyond my power, and beyond my hope. Yet perhaps, some stop might be put to this unmerciful persecution, if all would seriously reflect, that whoever pays a visit that is not desired, or talks longer than the hearer is willing to attend, is guilty of an injury which he cannot repair, and takes away that which he cannot give.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-07-15), The Idler, No. 14
(Source)

Barrett, James Lee -- Shenandoah (1965)

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:41:08 +0000

ANN ANDERSON: Here’s something else you must remember: husbands like to be alone once in awhile.
JENNIE ANDERSON: Why?
ANN ANDERSON: You never know why, but I can always tell when James wants to be alone. A mood comes over him. I can always see it in his eyes before it gets there. I don’t know where the mood comes from or why, but that’s when I leave him alone. It seems sometimes things get so fickle in a man that he comes to feel that everything is closing in on him — and that’s when he wants to be left alone. You understand, don’t you?
JENNIE ANDERSON: No!

James Lee Barrett (1929–1989) American author, producer, screenwriter
Shenandoah (1965)
(Source)

HIcks, Bill -- Relentless (1992)

Dave — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 12:23:13 +0000

I just have one of those faces. People come up to me and say, “What’s wrong?” Nothing. “Well, it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile.” Yeah, you know it takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me alone?

Bill Hicks (1961–1994) American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, musician [William Melvin "Bill" Hicks]
Relentless (1992)

Brandeis, Louis -- Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928) [dissent]

Dave — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:19:24 +0000

The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man’s spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone — the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.

Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) American lawyer, jurist, activist; US Supreme Court Justice (1916–39)
Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928) [dissent]
(Source)