WIST Quotations

Schopenhauer, Arthur -- Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 23 “On Authorship and Style [Über Schriftstellerei und Stil],” § 283 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]

Dave — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:57:43 +0000

But, as we have seen, many people try to conceal their poverty of thought under a flood of verbiage.

[Aber freilich suchen viele Schriftsteller gerade unter dem Wortüberfluß ihre Gedankenarmuth zu verbergen.]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 23 “On Authorship and Style [Über Schriftstellerei und Stil],” § 283 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

But, truly, many authors try to hide their poverty of thought under a superfluity of words.
[tr. Dircks (1897)]

Moliere -- Le Misanthrope, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 579ff (1666) [tr. Wormeley (1894), 2.5]

Dave — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 21:37:32 +0000

CÉLIMÈNE:Yes, he’s a wonderful talker, who has the art of telling you nothing in a great harangue. There’s never any point to what he says; ‘t is only noise to which we listen.

[C’est un parleur étrange, et qui trouve toujours
L’art de ne vous rien dire avec de grands discours:
Dans les propos qu’il tient on ne voit jamais goutte,
Et ce n’est que du bruit que tout ce qu’on écoute.]

Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 579ff (1666) [tr. Wormeley (1894), 2.5]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

He is a strange talker, and one who always finds the means of telling you nothing with a great flow of words. There is no sense at all in his tittle-tattle, and all that we hear is but noise.
[tr. Van Laun (1878), 2.5]

He is a strange tattler, and then he had always the art of saying nothing at great length. One can never see anything in the arguments which he holds, and all we hear is nothing but noise.
[tr. Mathew (1890), 2.3]

He is a strange tattler, and he has the art of telling you nothing with an abundance of words. There is not an atom of sense in what he says: it is nothing but noise.
[tr. Waller (1903)]

He is a marvelous talker -- one who finds
The art of saying naught with many words.
You can't make head or tail of his discourse,
And what you listen to is only noise.
[tr. Page (1913), 2.5]

Oh, he's a wondrous talker, and has the power
To tell you nothing hour after hour:
If, by mistake, he ever came to the point,
The shock would put his jawbone out of joint.
[tr. Wilbur (1954), 2.5]

He's perfect in his way. He has learned the art
Of saying all and signifying nothing.
Since he achieves a total lack of meaning,
His words are properly a social noise.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]

Yes, his strange mania for reasoning
Makes him talk on, and never say a thing:
His discourse in obscurity abounds
And all you listen to is merely sounds.
[tr. Frame (1967), 2.4]

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-02-11)

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

CALVIN: I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-02-11)
(Source)