WIST Quotations

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:39:06 +0000

It iz one ov the hardest things on earth for a man to learn, — that he plays a third rate game ov whist.

[It is one of the hardest things on earth for a man to learn — that he plays a third-rate game of whist.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.)
(Source)

Whist was a very popular trick-taking card game in the 18th-19th Centuries.

Horace -- Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 2 “To Lollius,” l. 56ff (1.2.56) (20 BC) [tr. Francis (1747)]

Dave — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 15:04:26 +0000

He wants for ever, who would more acquire;
Set certain limits to your wild desire.

[Semper avarus eget; certum voto pete finem.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 2 “To Lollius,” l. 56ff (1.2.56) (20 BC) [tr. Francis (1747)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

The Carle wantes aye, let thou thy drift to no excesse extende.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

The Cov'tous alwayes want: your pray'rs design
To some fixt mark.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]

Desires are endless, till you fix the end.
[tr. "Dr. W."; ed. Brome (1666)]

The Greedy want, to Wishes fix an End.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

Draw some fix'd line where your desires may rest:
Th' insatiate miser ever is distress'd.
[tr. Howes (1845)]

The covetous man is ever in want; set a certain limit to your wishes.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

The miser's always needy: draw a line
Within whose bound your wishes to confine.
[tr. Conington (1874)]

A miser's always poor. A bound assign
To what you want, then keep within the line.
[tr. Martin (1881)]

The avaricious man ever wants. Put a fixed limit on your desires.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

The covetous is ever in want: aim at a fixed limit for your desires.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

The miser is always in need; draw a boundary line
Around your desires.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

Greedy men are always poor: set limits to desire.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

The greedy never have enough: never want too much
For yourself.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]

The avaricious man always feels poor;
Set limits to what your desires make you long for.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]

The greedy are never content; fix an end to your longings.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

The greedy always want: set fixed limits to longing.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

Baldwin, James -- The Fire Next Time, “My Dungeon Shook” (1963)

Dave — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 17:54:06 +0000

This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish. Let me spell out precisely what I mean by that, for the heart of the matter is here, and the root of my dispute with my country. You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.

James Baldwin (1924-1987) American novelist, playwright, activist
The Fire Next Time, “My Dungeon Shook” (1963)
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 20:04:40 +0000

Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)

Smith, Sydney -- Lecture (1804-1806), Moral Philosophy, No. 9 “On the Conduct of the Understanding,” Royal Institution, London

Dave — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 17:13:36 +0000

It is a very wise rule in the conduct of the understanding, to acquire early a correct notion of your own peculiar constitution of mind, and to become well acquainted, as a physician would say, with your idiosyncrasy. Are you an acute man, and see sharply for small distances? or are you a comprehensive man, and able to take in, wide and extensive views into your mind? Does your mind turn its ideas into wit? or are you apt to take a common-sense view of the objects presented to you? Have you an exuberant imagination, or a correct judgment? Are you quick, or slow? accurate, or hasty? a great reader, or a great thinker? It is a prodigious point gained if any man can find out where his powers lie, and what are his deficiencies, — if he can contrive to ascertain what Nature intended him for.

Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Lecture (1804-1806), Moral Philosophy, No. 9 “On the Conduct of the Understanding,” Royal Institution, London
(Source)

Collected in Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849).

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- “Manfred,” Act 2, sc. 4 [First Destiny] (1817)

Dave — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 15:55:58 +0000

Knowledge is not happiness, and science
But an exchange of ignorance for that
Which is another kind of ignorance.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
“Manfred,” Act 2, sc. 4 [First Destiny] (1817)
(Source)

Virgil -- Eclogues [Eclogae, Bucolics, Pastorals], No. 8 “Pharmaceutria,” l. 63 (8.63) (42-38 BC) [tr. Mackail (1899)]

Dave — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 19:09:50 +0000

We cannot all do everything.

[Non omnia possumus omnes.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
Eclogues [Eclogae, Bucolics, Pastorals], No. 8 “Pharmaceutria,” l. 63 (8.63) (42-38 BC) [tr. Mackail (1899)]
(Source)

Invoking the Pierian Muses to finish the tale, after the singer has given the first half.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

All cannot all things do.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

We cannot all do all things.
[tr. Davidson (1854), Wilkins (1873), Greenough (1895), Day Lewis (1963), @sentantiq (2018)]

Scarce may all do everything.
[tr. Calverley (c. 1871)]

We are not equal all
To every theme.
[tr. Palmer (1883)]

All things are not possible to all.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]

We cannot all do everything.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1916)]

We are not all sufficient for all things.
[tr. Mackail/Cardew (1908)]

No single singer touches all the chords.
[tr. Williams (1915)]

We cannot all succeed in every task.
[tr. Rieu (1949)]

For none of us all is skilful in all things.
[tr. Johnson (1960)]

We are not all capable of all things.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

Meaker, Marijane -- Gentlehands, ch. 13 [Grandpa Trenker] (1978) [as M. E. Kerr]

Dave — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 14:54:14 +0000

Whatever a man’s confidence, that’s his capacity.

Marijane Meaker (1927-2022) American writer (pen names: Vin Packer, Ann Aldrich, M. E. Kerr)
Gentlehands, ch. 13 [Grandpa Trenker] (1978) [as M. E. Kerr]

Sayers, Dorothy -- Thrones, Dominations, ch. 5 (1998) [with Jill Paton Walsh]

Dave — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 18:03:22 +0000

To know one’s own limitations is the hallmark of competence.

Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) English author, translator
Thrones, Dominations, ch. 5 (1998) [with Jill Paton Walsh]
(Source)

Walsh completed the novel left unfinished at Sayers' death.

Clifford, William Kingdon -- “The Ethics of Belief,” Part 2 “The Weight of Authority,” Contemporary Review (Jan 1877)

Dave — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 16:02:59 +0000

It is hardly in human nature that a man should quite accurately gauge the limits of his own insight; but it is the duty of those who profit by his work to consider carefully where he may have been carried beyond it. If we must needs embalm his possible errors along with his solid achievements, and use his authority as an excuse for believing what he cannot have known, we make of his goodness an occasion to sin.

William Kingdon Clifford (1845-1879) English mathematician and philosopher
“The Ethics of Belief,” Part 2 “The Weight of Authority,” Contemporary Review (Jan 1877)
(Source)

Wanamaker, John -- Quoted in Herbert Adams Gibbons, John Wanamaker, Vol. 2 (1926)

Dave — Thu, 07 May 2020 22:11:56 +0000

I have no time to scold, and I learned thirty years ago it was foolish to scold. I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence.

John Wanamaker (1838-1922) American merchant, marketer, philanthropist, Postmaster General
Quoted in Herbert Adams Gibbons, John Wanamaker, Vol. 2 (1926)
(Source)

Variant paraphrase: "It's foolish to scold people. I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that God didn't see fit to distribute brains equally."

Pratchett, Terry -- Post, alt.fan.pratchett (16 Apr 2002)

Dave — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 15:58:21 +0000

I think perhaps the most important problem is that we are trying to understand the fundamental workings of the universe via a language devised for telling one another when the best fruit is.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Post, alt.fan.pratchett (16 Apr 2002)
(Source)

Macaulay, Thomas Babington -- Essay (1828-01/05), “John Dryden,” Edinburgh Review No. 93, Art. 1

Dave — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 16:03:23 +0000

His imagination resembled the wings of an ostrich. It enabled him to run, though not to soar. When he attempted the highest flights, he became ridiculous; but, while he remained in a lower region, he outstripped all competitors.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
Essay (1828-01/05), “John Dryden,” Edinburgh Review No. 93, Art. 1
(Source)

A review of John Dryden, The Political Works of John Dryden (1826). Collected in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 1 (1860).

Temple, William Baronet -- Miscellanea (1705)

Dave — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 23:50:06 +0000

The Abilities of Man must fall short on one side or other, like too scanty a Blanket when you are a-bed. If you pull it upon your Shoulders, you leave your Feet bare; if you thrust it down upon your Feet, your Shoulders are uncovered.

William Temple, 1st Baronet Temple (1628-1699) English statesman and essayist.
Miscellanea (1705)
(Source)

Johnson, Lyndon -- Speech (1966-09-13), Signing a Bill Extending the Peace Corps Act, Georgetown University

Dave — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:27:13 +0000

Presidents quickly realize that while a single act might destroy the world they live in, no one single decision can make life suddenly better or can turn history around for the good.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Speech (1966-09-13), Signing a Bill Extending the Peace Corps Act, Georgetown University
(Source)

Broader context:

To hunger for use, and to go unused, is the worst hunger of all. [...] It is true that few men have the power by a single act of theirs or in a single lifetime to shape history for themselves. Presidents, for example, quickly realize that while a single act might destroy the world they live in, no one single decision can make life suddenly better or can turn history around all for the good. But Presidents do know that a nation is the sum total of what we all do together; that the deeds and desires of each citizen fashion our character and shape our world -- just as one tiny drop of water after another will ultimately make a mighty river.

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 4064 (1732)

Dave — Thu, 05 May 2011 13:41:02 +0000

Sail, quoth the King; hold, saith the Wind.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 4064 (1732)
(Source)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- Babylon 5, 1×22 “Chrysalis” (3 Oct 1994)

Dave — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:24:35 +0000

LONDO: There comes a time when you look into the mirror, and you realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. Then you accept it, or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking into mirrors.

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 1×22 “Chrysalis” (3 Oct 1994)

Hand, Learned -- Testimony, US Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Special Subcommittee on the Establishment of a Commission on Ethics in Government (1951-06-28)

Dave — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:54:06 +0000

“I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken.” I should like to have that written over the portals of every church, every school, and every court house, and, may I say, of every legislative body in the United States. I should like to have every court begin, “I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that we may be mistaken.”

Learned Hand (1872-1961) American jurist
Testimony, US Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Special Subcommittee on the Establishment of a Commission on Ethics in Government (1951-06-28)
(Source)

This was a favorite phrase of Hand's regarding his own judicial philosophy. Quoting Oliver Cromwell's letter to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (Aug 1650) before the Battle of Dunbar.

Collected as "Morals in Public Life" in Irving Dillard, ed., The Spirit of Liberty (1952).

Card, Orson Scott -- Essay (1991-03), “Games with No Limits,” Compute Magazine, No. 127

Dave — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 11:12:24 +0000

If we game players wanted to have an experience controlled by somebody else, we could rent a videotape. Gamewrights should try to empower us as players, not limit us unnecessarily. Someone at every game design company should have a fulltime job of saying, “Why aren’t we letting the player decide that?” […] When they let such unnecessary limitations creep into a game, gamewrights reveal that they don’t yet understand their own art. They’ve chosen to work with the most liberating of media — and yet they snatch back with their left hand the freedom they offered us with their right.
Remember, gamewrights, the power and beauty of the art of gamemaking is that you and the player collaborate to create the final story. Every freedom that you can give to the player is an artistic victory. And every needless boundary in your game should feel to you like failure.

Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) American author
Essay (1991-03), “Games with No Limits,” Compute Magazine, No. 127
(Source)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 538 (1820)

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

It is only when the rich are sick that they fully feel the impotence of wealth.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 538 (1820)
(Source)

Marcus Aurelius -- Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 6, ch. 19 (6.19) (AD 161-180) [tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]

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

Do not suppose that if you personally find that something is hard to achieve, it is therefore beyond human capacity; rather, if something is possible and appropriate for human beings, assume that it must also be within your own reach.

[Μή, εἴ τι αὐτῷ σοὶ δυσκαταπόνητον, τοῦτο ἀνθρώπῳ ἀδύνατον ὑπολαμβάνειν, ἀλλ̓ εἴ τι ἀνθρώπῳ δυνατὸν καὶ οἰκεῖον, τοῦτο καὶ σεαυτῷ ἐφικτὸν νόμιζε.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 6, ch. 19 (6.19) (AD 161-180) [tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Do not ever conceive anything impossible to man, which by thee cannot, or not without much difficulty be effected; but whatsoever in general thou canst Conceive possible and proper unto any man, think that very possible unto thee also.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 6.18]

Because you find a Thing very difficult, don't presently conclude that no Man can master it. But whatever you observe proper, and practicable by Another, believe likewise within your own power.
[tr. Collier (1701)]

If any thing seems exceedingly difficult for you to accomplish, don’t conclude it to be impossible to all men: but rather, if you see any thing possible to man, and a part of his proper work, conclude that you also may attain to it.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]

Do not conclude, because you find a thing difficult, that therefore it is beyond the power of man to perform. But, whatever you see practicable by other men, if it be proper to be done, be assured it is in your power to perform.
[tr. Graves (1792), 6.18]

If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself, do not think that it is impossible for man: but if anything is possible for man and conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by thyself too.
[tr. Long (1862)]

Because you find a thing very difficult, do not at once conclude that no man can master it. But whatever you observe proper and practicable by another, believe likewise within your power.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]

Do not think that what is hard for thee to master is impossible for man; but if a thing is possible and proper to man, deem it attainable by thee.
[tr. Morgan (1894)]

Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]

If a thing seems to you very difficult to accomplish, conclude not that it is beyond human power. But, if you see that anything is within man’s power, and part of his proper work, conclude that you also may attain to it.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]

Because thou findest a thing difficult for thyself to accomplish do not conceive it to be impracticable for others; but whatever is possible for a man and in keeping with his nature consider also attainable by thyself.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]

Do not because a thing is hard for you yourself to accomplish, imagine that it is humanly impossible: but if a thing is humanly possible and appropriate, consider it also to be within your own reach.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]

Because a thing is difficult for you, do not therefore suppose it to be beyond mortal power. On the contrary, if anything is possible and proper for men to do, assume that it must fall within your own capacity.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]

Do not suppose that, if you find something hard to achieve, it is beyond human capacity; rather, if something is possible and appropriate for man, assume that it must also be within your own reach.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]

Not to assume it's impossible because you find it hard. But to recognize that if it's humanly possible, you can do it too.
[tr. Hays (2003)]

Do not imagine that, if something is hard for you to achieve, it is therefore impossible for any man: but rather consider anything that is humanly possible and appropriate to lie within your own reach too.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]

If something is difficult for you to accomplish, do not then think it impossible for any human being; rather, if it is humanly possible and corresponds to human nature, know that it is attainable by you as well.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]

If something is exceedingly hard for you to do, don’t suppose that it is impossible for a human, but if it is something possible and suitable for a human, think that it is within your power as well.
[tr. @aleator (2012)]

If something is hard for you to achieve, do not suppose that it is beyond human capacity; rather, if something is possible and suitable for human beings, consider that it is within your reach too.
[tr. Gill (2013)]

Milne, A. A. -- Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 3 “Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting” (1926)

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

“I have been Foolish and Deluded,” said Pooh, “and I am a Bear of No Brain at All.”
“You’re the Best Bear in All the World,” said Christopher Robin soothingly.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 3 “Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting” (1926)
(Source)

Clarke, Arthur C. -- “Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination,” Profiles of the Future (1962)

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

But the only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) British writer
“Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination,” Profiles of the Future (1962)

Also known as Clarke's Second Law.