Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Slaughterhouse-Five, ch. 1 (1969)

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 18:37:23 +0000

And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.
So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007) American novelist, journalist
Slaughterhouse-Five, ch. 1 (1969)

Comparing the tale of Lot's wife with his own retrospective look at WW2 and the firebombing of Dresden.

Billings, Josh -- Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)

Dave — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 16:17:25 +0000

We are always a-looking ahed, and that iz the way tew look; if the man at the wheel looks back he will soon beach hiz vessell.

[We are always a-looking ahead, and that is the way to look; if the man at the wheel looks back he will soon beach his vessel.]

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)

WIST Quotations

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Slaughterhouse-Five, ch. 1 (1969)

Billings, Josh -- Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)