WIST Quotations

Doyle, Arthur Conan -- Story (1890-02), “The Sign of the Four,” ch. 1 [Holmes], Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 45 (US) / 1 (UK)

Dave — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 21:11:20 +0000

I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun-coloured houses. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers, doctor, when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace, existence is commonplace, and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1890-02), “The Sign of the Four,” ch. 1 [Holmes], Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 45 (US) / 1 (UK)
(Source)

The original publication, and Doyle's manuscript (along with many other iterations across media) use "The Sign of the Four" as the title, while others (including the first book publications) use "The Sign of Four." The five-word form is used most commonly in the story, but the four-word form does show up. (More info.)

Published in novel form as The Sign of Four (1890-10).

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 5 “Play and Fancy” (1926)

Dave — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:26:43 +0000

It is a dangerous error to confound truth with matter-of-fact. Our life is governed not only by facts, but by hopes; the kind of truthfulness which sees nothing but facts is a prison for the human spirit. Dreams are only to be condemned when they are a lazy substitute for an effort to change reality; when they are an incentive, they are fulfilling a vital purpose in the incarnation of human ideals. To kill fancy in childhood is to make a slave to what exists, a creature tethered to earth and therefore unable to create heaven.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 5 “Play and Fancy” (1926)
(Source)

On children's literature.

Carlyle, Thomas -- Sartor Resartus, Book 3, ch. 8 (1834)

Dave — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 19:36:03 +0000

Innumerable are the illusions and legerdemain-tricks of Custom: but of all these, perhaps the cleverest is her knack of persuading us that the Miraculous, by simple repetition, ceases to be Miraculous.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 3, ch. 8 (1834)
(Source)

Quoting Herr Teufelsdröckh.

This chapter first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, No. 55 (1834-07).

Sarton, May -- Journal of a Solitude, “May 28th” (1973)

Dave — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 18:29:23 +0000

Clutter is what silts up exactly like silt in a flowing stream when the current, the free flow of the mind, is held up by an obstruction. I spent four hours in Keene yesterday getting the car inspected and two new tires put on, also finding a few summer blouses. The mail; has accumulated in a fearful way, so I have a huge disorderly pile of stuff to be answered on my desk. In the end what kills is not agony (for agony at least asks something of the soul) but everyday life.

May Sarton (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
Journal of a Solitude, “May 28th” (1973)
(Source)

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1992-11-08)

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

CALVIN: I’ve noticed that comic book superheroes usually fight evil maniacs with grandiose plans to destroy the world. Why don’t superheroes go after more subtle, realistic bad guys?

HOBBES: Yeah, the superhero could attend council meetings and write letters to the editor, and stuff.

CALVIN: Hmmm … I think I see the problem.

HOBBES: “Quick! To the Bat-Fax!”

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1992-11-08)
(Source)

Hitchcock, Alfred -- Interview (1962-08) by François Truffaut

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

Making a film means, first of all, to tell a story. That story can be an improbable one, but it should never be banal. It must be dramatic and human. What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) English film director
Interview (1962-08) by François Truffaut
(Source)

Why he avoids making "slice of life" films. Sometimes paraphrased as "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out."

From a series of interviews (with Helen Scott as the translator) of Hitchcock by Truffaut, edited and collected in the Truffaut book Hitchcock: A Definitive Study [Le Cinéma Selon Hitchcock], ch. 4 (1966) [tr. Truffaut (1967)].