WIST Quotations

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5

Dave — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 15:05:42 +0000

Swift falsifies his picture of the world by refusing to see anything in human life except dirt, folly and wickedness, but the part which he abstracts from the whole does exist, and it is something which we all know about while shrinking from mentioning it. Part of our minds — in any normal person it is the dominant part — believes that man is a noble animal and life is worth living: but there is also a sort of inner self which at least intermittently stands aghast at the horror of existence.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1888-12), “A Christmas Sermon,” sec. 1, Scribner’s Magazine, Vol. 4

Dave — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 15:40:04 +0000

To make our idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow-men a secret element of gusto.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1888-12), “A Christmas Sermon,” sec. 1, Scribner’s Magazine, Vol. 4
(Source)

Originally written in the winter of 1887-88. Collected in Across the Plains, ch. 12 (1892).

Austen, Jane -- Pride and Prejudice, ch. 24 [Elizabeth] (1813)

Dave — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 17:10:02 +0000

There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Pride and Prejudice, ch. 24 [Elizabeth] (1813)
(Source)

Child, Lydia Maria -- Letter to Lucy Osgood (1865)

Dave — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 15:26:32 +0000

To everything there is a bright side and a dark side; and I hold it to be unwise, unphilosophic, unkind to others, and unhealthy for one’s own soul, to form the habit of looking on the dark side.

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) American abolitionist, activist, journalist, suffragist
Letter to Lucy Osgood (1865)
(Source)

Morrison, Grant -- “SUPERMAN and THE AUTHORITY annotations Pt 2,” blog entry (16 Feb 2022)

Dave — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 22:52:20 +0000

I questioned the desire to attribute the worst aspects of human behaviour to characters whose only useful function, as I see it, aside from simply entertaining young people and anyone else who fancies an uplifting holiday in a storybook world far from the grinding monotony of pessimism and disillusion, is to provide a primary-coloured cartoon taste of how we all might be if we had the wit and the will and the self-sacrifice it takes to privilege our best selves and loftiest aspirations over our base instincts. While that great day is unlikely to happen any time soon in any halfway-familiar real world, why not let comic book universes be playgrounds for the kind of utopian impulses that have in the past brought out the best in us?

Grant Morrison (b. 1960) Scottish comic book writer and playwright
“SUPERMAN and THE AUTHORITY annotations Pt 2,” blog entry (16 Feb 2022)
(Source)

Bird, Brad -- Ratatouille (2007)

Dave — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 16:11:52 +0000

ANTON EGO: In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

Brad Bird (b. 1957) American director, animator and screenwriter [Phillip Bradley Bird]
Ratatouille (2007)

Silverstein, Shel -- “Listen To The Mustn’ts,” Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974)

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 16:00:05 +0000

Listen to the MUSTN’Ts, child,
Listen to the DON’Ts
Listen to the SHOULDN’Ts
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’Ts
Listen to the NEVER HAVEs
Then listen close to me —
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) American poet, singer-songwriter, cartoonist, children's author
“Listen To The Mustn’ts,” Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974)

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 6 “Envy” (1930)

Dave — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:06:32 +0000

Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 6 “Envy” (1930)
(Source)

Milne, A. A. -- Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 6 “Eeyore Has a Birthday” (1926)

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

“Good morning, Eeyore,” said Pooh.
“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” said Eeyore gloomily. “If it is a good morning,” he said. “Which I doubt,” said he.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 6 “Eeyore Has a Birthday” (1926)
(Source)