WIST Quotations

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1966)

Dave — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:02:51 +0000

The ideal home: big enough for you to hear the children, but not very well.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1966)
(Source)

Moliere -- Le Misanthrope, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 579ff (1666) [tr. Wormeley (1894), 2.5]

Dave — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 21:37:32 +0000

CÉLIMÈNE:Yes, he’s a wonderful talker, who has the art of telling you nothing in a great harangue. There’s never any point to what he says; ‘t is only noise to which we listen.

[C’est un parleur étrange, et qui trouve toujours
L’art de ne vous rien dire avec de grands discours:
Dans les propos qu’il tient on ne voit jamais goutte,
Et ce n’est que du bruit que tout ce qu’on écoute.]

Molière (1622–1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 579ff (1666) [tr. Wormeley (1894), 2.5]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

He is a strange talker, and one who always finds the means of telling you nothing with a great flow of words. There is no sense at all in his tittle-tattle, and all that we hear is but noise.
[tr. Van Laun (1878), 2.5]

He is a strange tattler, and then he had always the art of saying nothing at great length. One can never see anything in the arguments which he holds, and all we hear is nothing but noise.
[tr. Mathew (1890), 2.3]

He is a strange tattler, and he has the art of telling you nothing with an abundance of words. There is not an atom of sense in what he says: it is nothing but noise.
[tr. Waller (1903)]

He is a marvelous talker -- one who finds
The art of saying naught with many words.
You can't make head or tail of his discourse,
And what you listen to is only noise.
[tr. Page (1913), 2.5]

Oh, he's a wondrous talker, and has the power
To tell you nothing hour after hour:
If, by mistake, he ever came to the point,
The shock would put his jawbone out of joint.
[tr. Wilbur (1954), 2.5]

He's perfect in his way. He has learned the art
Of saying all and signifying nothing.
Since he achieves a total lack of meaning,
His words are properly a social noise.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]

Yes, his strange mania for reasoning
Makes him talk on, and never say a thing:
His discourse in obscurity abounds
And all you listen to is merely sounds.
[tr. Frame (1967), 2.4]

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1737 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 20:05:23 +0000

The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
(Source)

Kennedy, Florynce -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:46:31 +0000

You’ve got to rattle your cage door. You’ve got to let them know that you’re in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you’ll sure have a lot more fun.

Florynce "Flo" Kennedy (1916–2000) American lawyer, feminist, civil rights activist
(Attributed)
(Source)

Quoted in Gloria Steinem, "The Verbal Karate of Florynce R. Kennedy, Esq.," Ms. (Mar 1973).

~Proverbs and Sayings -- English proverb

Dave — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 21:41:13 +0000

The noisiest streams are the shallowest.

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
English proverb

Kittredge, A. E. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 05:26:15 +0000

I never hear parents exclaim impatiently, “Children, you must not make so much noise,” that I do not think how soon the time may come when those parents would give all the world, could they hear once more the ringing laughter which once so disturbed them.

Abbott Eliot "A. E." Kittredge (1834–1912) American clergyman and Presbyterian leader
(Attributed)

Quoted in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).

Aaronovitch, Ben -- Whispers Under Ground (2012)

Dave — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 18:55:19 +0000

“Can you hear that?” asked Kumar. We stopped and listened. Just on the cusp of hearing I detected a rhythmic pounding, more a vibration in the concrete than a sound. “Drums,” I said, and then because I couldn’t resist it, “Drums in the deep.”

Ben Aaronovitch (b. 1964) British author
Whispers Under Ground (2012)

Lewis, C.S. -- The Screwtape Letters (1942)

Dave — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 15:37:20 +0000

Music and silence — how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell — though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express — no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise — Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile — Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it.

C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Screwtape Letters (1942)

Lewis, Sinclair -- Arrowsmith, ch. 14 (1925)

Dave — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 14:07:48 +0000

There was much conversation, most of which sounded like the rest of it.

Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) American novelist, playwright
Arrowsmith, ch. 14 (1925)

Stein, Gertrude -- “Reflection on the Atomic Bomb” (1946), Yale Poetry Review (Dec 1947)

Dave — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 12:57:24 +0000

Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.

Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American expatriate author, feminist
“Reflection on the Atomic Bomb” (1946), Yale Poetry Review (Dec 1947)
(Source)

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 3, ch. 11 (3.11), “Of Cripples [Des Boyteux]” (1587) [tr. Frame (1943)]

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

He who imposes his argument by bravado and command shows that it is weak in reason.

[Qui establit son discours par braverie et commandement, montre que la raison y est foible.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 3, ch. 11 (3.11), “Of Cripples [Des Boyteux]” (1587) [tr. Frame (1943)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

He that with braverie and by comaundement will establish his discourse, declareth his reason to be weake.
[tr. Florio (1603), "Of the Lame or Cripple"]

Who will establish his Discourse by Authority and Huffing, discovers his Reason to be very weak.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

He who will establish this proposition by authority and huffing discovers his reason to be very weak.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877), "On the Lame"]

He who establishes his argument by defiance and by command shews that his reasoning is weak.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

Any man who supports his opinion with challenges and commands demonstrates that his reasons for it are weak.
[tr. Screech (1987), "On the Lame"]

He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.
[Source]