WIST Quotations

Manning, Brennan -- The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 7 “Paste Jewelry and Sawdust Hot Dogs” (1990)

Dave — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 19:27:02 +0000

The noonday devil of the Christian life is the temptation to lose the inner self while preserving the shell of edifying behavior. Suddenly I discover that I am ministering to AIDS victims to enhance my resume. I find I renounced ice cream for Lent to lose five excess pounds. I drop hints about the absolute priority of meditation and contemplation to create the impression that I am a man of prayer. At some unremembered moment I have lost the connection between internal purity of heart and external works of piety. In the most humiliating sense of the word, I have become a legalist. I have fallen victim to what T.S. Eliot calls the greatest sin: to do the right thing for the wrong reason.

Brennan Manning (1934-2013) American author, laicized priest, theologian, speaker [Richard Francis Xavier Manning]
The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 7 “Paste Jewelry and Sawdust Hot Dogs” (1990)
(Source)

Hugo, Victor -- Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 6 “Little Gavroche,” ch. 1 (4.6.1) (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]

Dave — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 22:26:59 +0000

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives, the most unanswerable of retorts — Because.

[Pourquoi ? Parce que. Le plus terrible des motifs et la plus indiscutable des réponses: Parce que.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 6 “Little Gavroche,” ch. 1 (4.6.1) (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]
(Source)

On Mme Thenardier hating her sons.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives and the most unanswerable of responses: Because.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

Why? because she did. The most terrible of motives and most indisputable of answers is, Because.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

Why? Because. The most terrible and unanswerable of reasons.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives and the most unanswerable of responses: Because.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives, the most indisputable of responses. Because.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]

Russell, Bertrand -- “On Tact,” New York American (1933-02-01)

Dave — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 15:09:33 +0000

But although tact is a virtue, it is very closely allied to certain vices; the line between tact and hypocrisy is a very narrow one. I think the distinction comes in the motive: when it is kindliness that makes us wish to please, our tact is the right sort; when it is fear of offending, or desire to obtain some advantage by flattery, our tact is apt to be of a less amiable kind.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“On Tact,” New York American (1933-02-01)
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1903-04-19) to Edward Dowse

Dave — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 14:38:34 +0000

I now return the Sermon you were so kind as to enclose me, having perused it with attention. The reprinting it by me, as you have proposed, would very readily be ascribed to hypocritical affectation, by those who, when they cannot blame our acts, have recourse to the expedient of imputing them to bad motives. This is a resource which can never fail them, because there is no act, however virtuous, for which ingenuity may not find some bad motive.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1903-04-19) to Edward Dowse
(Source)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- The Idiot, Part 3, ch. 3 (1869) [tr. Martin (1915)]

Dave — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 20:42:24 +0000

We must never forget that human motives are generally far more complicated than we are apt to suppose, and that we can very rarely accurately describe the motives of another.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
The Idiot, Part 3, ch. 3 (1869) [tr. Martin (1915)]
(Source)

Alternate translation: "Don't let us forget that the motives of human actions are usually infinitely more complex and varied than we are apt to explain them afterwards, and can rarely be defined with certainty." [tr. Magarshack (1955)]

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #205 (5 Dec 1749)

Dave — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 21:46:18 +0000

Such closet politicians never fail to assign the deepest motives for the most trifling actions; instead of often ascribing the greatest actions to the most trifling causes, in which they would be much seldomer mistaken. They read and write of kings, heroes, and statesmen, as never doing any thing but upon the deepest principles of sound policy. But those who see and observe kings, heroes and statesmen, discover that they have headaches, indigestions, humours, and passions, just like other people; every one of which, in their turns, determine their wills, in defiance of their reason.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #205 (5 Dec 1749)
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, “Notice” (1884)

Dave — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:49:22 +0000

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.
— By Order of the Author

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, “Notice” (1884)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- (Spurious)

Dave — Wed, 17 May 2017 15:44:15 +0000

One of the greatest advantages of the totalitarian elites of the twenties and thirties was to turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
(Spurious)

This is frequently cited to Arendt, often to The Origins of Totalitarianism, (1951), but is not found as such in her works. The source appears to be a paraphrase of Arendt in a 1999 New Yorker article.

Stuart Elden suggested the following from The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 11, might be original quotation the paraphrase was built on, though the overall meaning is different:

The elite is not composed of ideologists; its members’ whole education is aimed at abolishing their capacity for distinguishing between truth and falsehood, between reality and fiction. Their superiority consists in their ability immediately to dissolve every statement of fact into a declaration of purpose.

Eliot, T. S. -- Murder in the Cathedral, Act 1 [Thomas] (1935)

Dave — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:04:46 +0000

The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Murder in the Cathedral, Act 1 [Thomas] (1935)
(Source)

Muhammad -- The Sayings of Muhammad [tr. Abdullah Al-Suhrawardy (1941)]

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 12:59:40 +0000

Actions will be judged according to intentions.

Muhammad (AD c. 570-632) Arab religious, military, and political leader; founder of Islam [Mohammed, مُحَمَّد]
The Sayings of Muhammad [tr. Abdullah Al-Suhrawardy (1941)]

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #161 (5 Sep 1748)

Dave — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:31:56 +0000

Give me but virtuous actions, and I will not quibble and chicane about the motives.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #161 (5 Sep 1748)
(Source)

Heinlein, Robert A. -- Time Enough for Love [Lazarus Long] (1973)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

Good intentions are no substitute for knowing how a buzz saw works, Ira; the worst criminals in history have been loaded with good intentions.

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
Time Enough for Love [Lazarus Long] (1973)

Morgan, John Pierpont -- (Attributed)

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

A man always has two reasons for what he does — a good one, and the real one.

John Pierpont "J. P." Morgan (1837-1913) American banker and financier
(Attributed)

Quoted in Owen Wister, Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship, p. 280 (1930). There's no record in Morgan's writings, and versions of the quote from others can be found in the early 1800s. See here for more details.

Sometimes given as "A man generally has two reasons for doing a thing: one that sounds good, and a real one."