WIST Quotations

Kerr, Jean -- Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies

Dave — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:39:31 +0000

Dearer to me than the evening star
A Packard car
A Hershey bar
Or a bride in her rich adorning
Dearer than any of these by far
Is to lie in bed in the morning.

Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
(Source)

Greenwood, Kerry -- Phryne Fisher No. 11, Away with the Fairies, ch. 1 (2001)

Dave — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:48:45 +0000

She felt that the day should not be bounced in on with rude energy, but carefully and delicately seduced into being, and children and animals were sadly impervious to reason on this matter.

Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher No. 11, Away with the Fairies, ch. 1 (2001)
(Source)

Aristotle -- Economics [Οἰκονομικά, Œconomica], Book 1, ch. 6 (1345a, l. 16) [tr. Walford (1853)]

Dave — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 02:27:49 +0000

It is likewise well to rise before daybreak; for this contributes to health, wealth, and wisdom.

[τό τε διανίστασθαι νύκτωρ: τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ πρὸς ὑγίειαν καὶ οἰκονομίαν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν χρήσιμον.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Economics [Οἰκονομικά, Œconomica], Book 1, ch. 6 (1345a, l. 16) [tr. Walford (1853)]
(Source)

While this resembles Franklin's Poor Richard proverb ("... makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"), it only refers to being "early to rise." Only a few sentences before this it recommends, rather than "early to bed," that the master of the house should stay up later than the servants and slaves:

And since it is good for the formation of character and useful in the interests of economy, masters ought to rise earlier than their slaves and retire to rest later.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

There are occasions when a master should rise while it is still night; for this helps to make a man healthy and wealthy and wise.
[tr. Forester (1920)]

Rising before daylight is also to be commended; it is a healthy habit, and gives more time for the management of the household as well as for liberal studies.
[tr. Armstrong (1935)]

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth and wisdom.
[Common Usage]

Milne, A. A. -- House at Pooh Corner, ch. 1 (1928)

Dave — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:19:27 +0000

“Nearly eleven o’clock,” said Pooh happily. “You’re just in time for a little smackerel of something.”

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 1 (1928)
(Source)

Farjeon, Eleanor -- “Morning Has Broken” (1931)

Dave — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 04:47:33 +0000

Morning has broken,
Like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise for the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the Word!

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) English author
“Morning Has Broken” (1931)
(Source)

Set to music and popularized by Cat Stevens in Teaser and the Firecat (1971).

Priestley, J. B. -- Delight (1949)

Dave — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 15:39:45 +0000

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.

J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) English author, dramatist [John Boyne Priestley]
Delight (1949)

Coolidge, Susan -- “New Every Morning”

Dave — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 14:36:09 +0000

Every morning is a fresh beginning,
Listen my soul to the glad refrain.
And, spite of old sorrows
And older sinning,
Troubles forecasted
And possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again.

Susan Coolidge (1835-1905) American author [pseud. for Sarah Chauncey Woolsey]
“New Every Morning”

Pratchett, Terry -- Good Omens, 4. “Thursday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]

Dave — Thu, 15 May 2014 12:14:27 +0000

Three very crowded hours went past. They involved quite a lot of phone calls, telexes, and faxes. Twenty-seven people were got out of bed in quick succession and they got another fifty-three out of bed, because if there is one thing a man wants to know when he’s woken up in a panic at 4:00 A.M., it’s that he’s not alone.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 4. “Thursday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)

Vidal, Gore -- “Gore Vidal,” interview by Gerald Clarke (1974)

Dave — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:46:46 +0000

First coffee, then a bowel movement. Then the Muse joins me.

Gore Vidal (1925-2012) American novelist, dramatist, critic
“Gore Vidal,” interview by Gerald Clarke (1974)

In The Paris Review Interviews: Writers at Work, 5th series (1981)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- Babylon 5, 1×13 “Signs and Portents” (8 May 1994)

Dave — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:44:48 +0000

IVANOVA: I’ve always had a hard time getting up when it’s dark outside.
SINCLAIR: But in space, it’s always dark.
IVANOVA: I know. I know.

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 1×13 “Signs and Portents” (8 May 1994)

Euripides -- Alexander [Ἀλέξανδρος], Frag. 44 (TGF) [Chorus?] (415 BC) [tr. Morgan]

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

Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Alexander [Ἀλέξανδρος], Frag. 44 (TGF) [Chorus?] (415 BC) [tr. Morgan]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

Shed not fresh tears for ills of ancient date.
[Fragment: Barnes 47, Musgrave 20]

You must not mourn for old things with fresh tears.
[tr. Yalouris]

Bagnold, Enid -- (Attributed)

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

Why do birds sing in the morning? It’s the triumphant shout: “We got through another night!”

Enid Bagnold (1889-1981) English writer
(Attributed)

Unsourced in this form. In her 1969 autobiography she writes:

I hear that waking before dawn, that sentinel cry; and in thicket and thorn up comes the music. I hear it in the pillow; it intoxicates me. Why do they do it? I have never been taught about birds. Is it the triumph-shout -- "We have got through another night!" It may be.

Milne, A. A. -- Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 10 “Christopher Robin Gives a Pooh Party” (1926)

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

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting to-day?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s the same thing,” he said.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 10 “Christopher Robin Gives a Pooh Party” (1926)
(Source)