WIST Quotations

Kerr, Jean -- Play (1961), Mary, Mary, Act 3

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:16:03 +0000

MARY: Some people have such a talent for making the best of a bad situation that they go around creating bad situations so they can make the best of them.

Jean Kerr (1922–2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Play (1961), Mary, Mary, Act 3

Rushdie, Salman -- Speech (2012-05-06), Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, PEN World Voices Festival, New York City

Dave — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:25:47 +0000

At its most effective, the censor’s lie actually succeeds in replacing the artist’s truth. That which is censored is thought to have deserved censorship. Boat-rocking is deplored.

Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) Indian novelist
Speech (2012-05-06), Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, PEN World Voices Festival, New York City

Printed as an essay (2012-05-11), "On Censorship," The New Yorker magazine.

Shaw, George Bernard -- Pygmalion, Act 5 (1913)

Dave — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:29:57 +0000

HIGGINS: Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble. There’s only one way of escaping trouble; and that’s killing things. Cowards, you notice, are always shrieking to have troublesome people killed.

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright and critic
Pygmalion, Act 5 (1913)