WIST Quotations

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1744 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:08:17 +0000

If you’d be belov’d, make yourself amiable.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1744 ed.)
(Source)

Shulman, Naomi -- Essay (2016-11-17), “No Time To Be Nice: Now Is Not the Moment to Remain Silent,” WBUR, National Public Radio

Dave — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 03:38:31 +0000

Nice people made the best Nazis.
Or so I have been told. My mother was born in Munich in 1934, and spent her childhood in Nazi Germany surrounded by nice people who refused to make waves. When things got ugly, the people my mother lived alongside chose not to focus on “politics,” instead busying themselves with happier things. They were lovely, kind people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away.

Naomi Shulman (contemp.), American writer, essayist, editor
Essay (2016-11-17), “No Time To Be Nice: Now Is Not the Moment to Remain Silent,” WBUR, National Public Radio
(Source)

This is a revised version of the following, more commonly-seen quotation, which I have seen suggested was an earlier iteration of the above on her Facebook account (though it does not appear to be posted there any longer):

Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than “politics.” They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters.

The earliest quotation I can find of this earlier version is from 2016-11-13 (followed by these two from 2016-11-22).

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionnée], Part 2 “Characters and Anecdotes [Caractères et Anecdotes],” ¶ 662 (1795) [tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 455]

Dave — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 17:26:33 +0000

Madame de Tencin was gentle-mannered but quite unscrupulous, capable of absolutely anything. On one occasion people were praising the gentleness of her nature. “Yes,” an abbé commented, “if it was in her interest to poison you, I’m sure she’d choose the pleasantest poison possible.”

[Mme de Tencin, avec des manières douces, était une femme sans principes et capable de tout, exactement. Un jour, on louait sa douceur: «Oui, dit l’abbé Trublet, si elle eût eu intérêt de vous empoisonner, elle eût choisi le poison le plus doux.»]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionnée], Part 2 “Characters and Anecdotes [Caractères et Anecdotes],” ¶ 662 (1795) [tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 455]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

When some one was one day vaunting the affability and softness of manner of Madame de Tencin, the Abbé Trublet replied, "Yes, if it was her interest to poison you she would select the sweetest poison for the purpose."
[tr. Blessington (c. 1869)]

Madame de Tencin, with the suavest manners in the world, was an unprincipled woman, capable of anything. On one occasion, a friend was praising her gentleness. "Aye, aye," said the Abbé Imblet, "if she had any object whatever in poisoning you, undoubtedly she would choose the sweetest and least disagreeable poison in the world."
[tr. Mathews (1878)]

Madame de Tencin, whose manners were of the sweetest, was a woman of no principles, and capable of anything, precisely. One day someone was extolling her sweetness. "Yes," said the Abbé Trublet, {if she stood to profit by poisoning you, she would choose the sweetest possible poison."
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

Mme de Tencin, with the sweetest manners, was a woman without principles and was capable of everything, to be exact. One day someone praised her sweetness: "Yes," said the abbé Trublet, "if she decided to poison you, she would choose the sweetest poison possible."
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994), ¶ 662]

Durocher, Leo -- (Paraphrase)

Dave — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 15:31:39 +0000

Nice guys finish last.

Leo Durocher (1905-1991) American professional baseball player, manager, coach ["Leo the Lip"]
(Paraphrase)

The full quote was reported by in the column by Frank Graham, "Leo Doesn't Like Nice Guys," New York Journal-American (6 Jul 1946). When, as Brooklyn Dodgers manager, asked by a reporter if he were a nice guy:

Nice guys! Look over there. Do you know a nicer guy than Mel Ott? Or any of the other Giants? Why they’re the nicest guys in the world! And where are they? In seventh place! The nice guys over there are in seventh place. Well let them come and get me. The nice guys are all over there. In seventh place.

As the anecdote was retold (even when Graham's column was reprinted in Baseball Digest in the fall of that year), the references to "seventh place" began morphing into "last place" and "in the second division," eventually settling on the shorter version cited above. While Durocher originally denied he'd said the shorter version, he eventually lay claim to it, and used it as the title of his 1975 autobiography.

More discussion of this quotation:

Ivins, Molly -- “My, Oh, My, It’s the Ninth Wonder of the World,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram (15 May 1994)

Dave — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 18:27:47 +0000

Nice is a pallid virtue. Not like honesty or courage or perseverance. On the other hand, in a nation frequently lacking in civility, there is much to be said for nice.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
“My, Oh, My, It’s the Ninth Wonder of the World,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram (15 May 1994)
(Source)

Reprinted in You Go to Dance with Them What Brung You (1998).

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 4 (1966)

Dave — Thu, 06 May 2021 14:42:36 +0000

Don’t be yourself — be someone a little nicer.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 4 (1966)
(Source)

Gervais, Ricky -- “Why I’m an Atheist,” Wall Street Journal (19 Dec 2010)

Dave — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:24:31 +0000

“Do unto others …” is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. But that’s exactly what it is -‐ a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. “Do this or you’ll burn in hell.”

You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway.

Ricky Gervais (b. 1961) English comedian, actor, director, writer
“Why I’m an Atheist,” Wall Street Journal (19 Dec 2010)
(Source)

Buscaglia, Leo -- Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (1992)

Dave — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:55:25 +0000

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Leo Buscaglia (1925-1998) American psychologist, writer
Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (1992)

Lewis, C.S. -- The Problem of Pain (1940)

Dave — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 14:47:30 +0000

The real trouble is that “kindness” is a quality fatally easy to attribute to ourselves on quite inadequate grounds. Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment. Thus a man easily comes to console himself for all his other vices by a conviction that “his heart’s in the right place” and “he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” though in fact he has never made the slightest sacrifice for a fellow creature. We think we are kind when we are only happy: it is not so easy, on the same grounds, to imagine oneself temperate, chaste, or humble. You cannot be kind unless you have all the other virtues. If, being cowardly, conceited and slothful, you have never yet done a fellow creature great mischief, that is only because your neighbour’s welfare has not yet happened to conflict with your safety, self-approval, or ease. Every vice leads to cruelty.

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Problem of Pain (1940)

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, “Religion” (1912)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:40:48 +0000

Is there any religion whose followers can be pointed to as distinctly more amiable and trustworthy than those of any other? If so, this should be enough. I find the nicest and best people generally profess no religion at all, but are ready to like the best men of all religions.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, “Religion” (1912)

Full text.

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-09-13), The Spectator, No. 169

Dave — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:21:27 +0000

Good-nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty. It shows virtue in the fairest light, takes off in some measure from the deformity of vice, and makes even folly and impertinence supportable.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-09-13), The Spectator, No. 169
(Source)

Robertson, Pat -- The 700 Club broadcast (1991-01-14)

Dave — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:11:21 +0000

You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense, I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.

Pat Robertson (1930-2023) American politician and televangelist
The 700 Club broadcast (1991-01-14)
(Source)

The earliest documentation of this quote I can find is in David Cantor, The Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance & Pluralism in America, Sec. 1, ch. 1 (1994).

Barry, Dave -- “25 Things I Have Learned In 50 Years,” #21 (1997)

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

A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.

Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist, author, columnist
“25 Things I Have Learned In 50 Years,” #21 (1997)