WIST Quotations

Armour, Richard -- Poem (1956-01), “Good Sportsmanship,” American Legion Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 1

Dave — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:09:41 +0000

Good sportsmanship we hail, we sing,
It’s always pleasant when you spot it,
There’s only one unhappy thing:
You have to lose to prove you’ve got it.

Richard Armour (1906–1989) American poet and author
Poem (1956-01), “Good Sportsmanship,” American Legion Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 1

Collected in his Nights with Armour (1958).

Orwell, George -- Essay (1948-06), “‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’,” sec. 5, Partisan Review (1952-09)

Dave — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:29:37 +0000

That was the pattern of school life — a continuous triumph of the strong over the weak. Virtue consisted in winning: it consisted in being bigger, stronger, handsomer, richer, more popular, more elegant, more unscrupulous than other people — in dominating them, bullying them, making them suffer pain, making them look foolish, getting the better of them in every way. Life was hierarchical and whatever happened was right. There were the strong, who deserved to win and always did win, and there were the weak, who deserved to lose and always did lose, everlastingly.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1948-06), “‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’,” sec. 5, Partisan Review (1952-09)

This autobiographical essay was drafted around 1939, revised around 1946, and then completed in May or June of 1948. Collected in Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953), though the full, unredacted version was not published until 2000.

Kerr, Jean -- Play (1961), Mary, Mary, Act 1

Dave — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 22:24:22 +0000

BOB: I think success has no rules, but you can learn a great deal from failure.

Jean Kerr (1922–2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Play (1961), Mary, Mary, Act 1

Sarton, May -- At Seventy: A Journal, “Wednesday, June 23rd” (1973)

Dave — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 17:48:18 +0000

A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself.

May Sarton (1912–1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
At Seventy: A Journal, “Wednesday, June 23rd” (1973)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 4 (1963)

Dave — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 19:57:17 +0000

I’m afraid to win, and afraid to lose; I hate a draw and can’t stop competing; otherwise I’m fine.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 4 (1963)

Kissinger, Henry -- “The Viet Nam Negotiations,” Foreign Affairs (Jan 1969)

Dave — Wed, 03 May 2017 03:16:18 +0000

We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the process we lost sight of one of the cardinal maxims of guerrilla war: the guerrilla wins if he does not lose. The conventional army loses if it does not win.

Henry Kissinger (1923–2024) German-American diplomat
“The Viet Nam Negotiations,” Foreign Affairs (Jan 1969)

Sometimes paraphrased as "A conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla army wins if he does not lose."

Lewis, Carl -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:26:09 +0000

If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.

Carl Lewis (b. 1961) American Olympic athlete
(Attributed)

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (2002-12-01) “Fight Harder and Smarter,” The Progressive Magazine

Dave — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:35:31 +0000

There are three things one must not do in the face of electoral disaster. Whine. Despair. Or fall for that specious old radical crap: “Things have to get worse before they can get better.” The only possible response to that one is, “Not with my child’s life.”
Nor is it helpful to sit around hoping that given enough rope, the R’s will hang themselves. They’ll hang us along with them. The only thing to do is to fight harder and smarter.

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (2002-12-01) “Fight Harder and Smarter,” The Progressive Magazine

Johnson, Lyndon -- Quoted in Philip Geyelin, Lyndon B. Johnson and the World, ch. 6 (1966)

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

While you’re saving your face, you’re losing your ass.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963–69)
Quoted in Philip Geyelin, Lyndon B. Johnson and the World, ch. 6 (1966)

Geyelin said the phrase came up during "an august gathering of his most distinguished advisers when the question arose whether to honor an apparent US commitment to a proposition which Congress seemed unlikely to accept. Face-saving, the President observed, was not his major purpose in life," followed by the quote.

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 265 (1820)

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

To know a man, observe how he wins his object, rather than how he loses it; for when we fail, our pride supports us; when we succeed, it betrays us.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780–1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 265 (1820)

Carlin, George -- Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes [Part 2]”

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

If you can’t beat them, arrange to have them beaten.

George Carlin (1937–2008) American comedian
Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes [Part 2]”