WIST Quotations

Greenwood, Kerry -- Phryne Fisher No. 13, The Castlemaine Murders, ch. 4 (2003)

Dave — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 21:11:06 +0000

“Conversation is a minefield until you learn the conventions, Jane dear.”
“I’ll never learn all the rules,” muttered Jane.
“Yes, you will,” said Phryne. “Then you can bend them.”

Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher No. 13, The Castlemaine Murders, ch. 4 (2003)
(Source)

Jacobs, Jane -- “No Virtue in Meek Conformity” (1952)

Dave — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:39:24 +0000

I was brought up to believe that there is no virtue in conforming meekly to the dominant opinion of the moment. I was encouraged to believe that simple conformity results in stagnation for a society, and that American progress has been largely owing to the opportunity for experimentation, the leeway given initiative, and to a gusto and a freedom for chewing over odd ideas. I was taught that the American’s right to be a free individual, not at the mercy of the state, was hard-won and that its price was eternal vigilance, and that I too would have to be vigilant. I was made to feel that it would be a disgrace to me, as an individual, if I should not value or should give up rights that were dearly bought.

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist
“No Virtue in Meek Conformity” (1952)
(Source)

Foreword to her response to a State Department Loyalty Security Board interrogatory (1952-03-25). Reprinted in Vital Little Plans (2016).

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Journal (1813-11-27)

Dave — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 14:19:37 +0000

If I valued fame, I should flatter received opinions, which have gathered strength by time, and will yet wear longer than any living works to the contrary. But, for the soul of me, I cannot and will not give the lie to my own thoughts and doubts, come what may. If I am fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of his self-approved wisdom.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Journal (1813-11-27)
(Source)

Commager, Henry Steele -- “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine #1168 (Sep 1947)

Dave — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 15:04:00 +0000

But if our democracy is to flourish it must have criticism, if our government is to function it must have dissent. Only totalitarian governments insist upon conformity and they — as we know — do so at their peril. Without criticism abuses will go unrebuked; without dissent our dynamic system will become static. The American people ‘have a stake in the maintenance of the most thorough-going inquisition into American institutions. They have a stake in nonconformity, for they know that the American genius is nonconformist.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
“Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine #1168 (Sep 1947)
(Source)

Reprinted in Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent (1954).

Commager, Henry Steele -- “Who Is Loyal to America?” Harper’s Magazine #1168 (Sep 1947)

Dave — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 14:50:59 +0000

Independence was an act of revolution; republicanism was something new under the sun; the federal system was a vast experimental laboratory. Physically Americans were pioneers; in the realm of social and economic institutions, too, their tradition has been one of pioneering. From the beginning, intellectual and spiritual diversity have been as characteristic of America as racial and linguistic. The most distinctively American philosophies have been transcendentalism — which is the philosophy of the Higher Law — and pragmatism — which is the philosophy of experimentation and pluralism. These two principles are the very core of Americanism: the principle of the Higher Law, or of obedience to the dictates of conscience rather than of statutes, and the principle of pragmatism, or the rejection of a single good and of the notion of a finished universe. From the beginning Americans have known that there were new worlds to conquer, new truths to be discovered. Every effort to confine Americanism to a single pattern, to constrain it to a single formula, is disloyalty to everything that is valid in Americanism.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
“Who Is Loyal to America?” Harper’s Magazine #1168 (Sep 1947)
(Source)

Reprinted in Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent (1954).

Brodsky, Joseph -- Commencement Address, Williams College (24 May 1984)

Dave — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 15:22:47 +0000

The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even — if you will — eccentricity. That is, something that can’t be feigned, faked, imitated; something even a seasoned imposter couldn’t be happy with. Something, in other words, that can’t be shared, like your own skin: not even by a minority. Evil is a sucker for solidity. It always goes for big numbers, for confident granite, for ideological purity, for drilled armies and balanced sheets. Its proclivity for such things has to do with its innate insecurity, but this realization, again, is of small comfort when Evil triumphs.

Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) Russian-American poet, essayist, Nobel laureate, US Poet Laureate [Iosif Aleksandrovič Brodskij]
Commencement Address, Williams College (24 May 1984)
(Source)

Jillette, Penn -- “Honest Questions with Penn Jillette,” Interview by Glen Beck, CNN (2 Nov 2007)

Dave — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 17:14:19 +0000

Freedom only means the freedom to be stupid. Because you don’t need freedom to do what everybody thinks you should.

Penn Jillette (b. 1955) American stage magician, actor, musician, author
“Honest Questions with Penn Jillette,” Interview by Glen Beck, CNN (2 Nov 2007)
(Source)

Blume, Judy -- “Judy Blume Talks about Censorship,” judyblume.com

Dave — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 21:05:09 +0000

Censors don’t want children exposed to ideas different from their own. If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the school library would be close to empty.

Judy Blume (b. 1938) American writer
“Judy Blume Talks about Censorship,” judyblume.com
(Source)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- “The Limits of Toleration,” Speech, Nineteenth Century Club of New York (8 May 1888)

Dave — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 20:49:17 +0000

The only reason why we wish to exchange thoughts is that we are different. If we were all the same, we would die dumb. No thought would be expressed after we found that our thoughts were precisely alike. We differ — our thoughts are different. Therefore the commerce that we call conversation.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
“The Limits of Toleration,” Speech, Nineteenth Century Club of New York (8 May 1888)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 3, Equal Rites (1987)

Dave — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 11:50:20 +0000

She was already learning that if you ignore the rules people will, half the time, quietly rewrite them so that they don’t apply to you.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 3, Equal Rites (1987)
(Source)

Of the character Eskarina "Esk" Smith, modeled after Pratchett's daughter, Rhianna.

Jefferson, Thomas -- Essay (1776-10?), “Notes on Religion”

Dave — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 12:56:37 +0000

From the dissensions among Sects themselves arise necessarily a right of choosing and necessity of deliberating to which we will conform. But if we choose for ourselves, we must allow others to choose also, and so reciprocally, this establishes religious liberty.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Essay (1776-10?), “Notes on Religion”
(Source)

Labeled by Jefferson "Scraps Early in the Revolution." Modern rendering. Original:

From the dissensions among sects themselves arises necessarily a right of chusing & necessity of deliberating to which we will conform, but if we chuse for ourselves, we must allow others to chuse also, & to reciprocally. This establishes religious liberty.

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)

Dave — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:13:25 +0000

The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 9 “Fear of Public Opinion” (1930)

Dave — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:41:39 +0000

Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they consider such departures as a criticism of themselves. They will pardon much unconventionality in a man who has enough jollity and friendliness to make it clear, even to the stupidest, that he is not engaged in criticizing them.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 9 “Fear of Public Opinion” (1930)
(Source)

Stevenson, Adlai -- Call to Greatness, ch. 3 “America’s Burden” (1954)

Dave — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:54:02 +0000

Unreason and anti-intellectualism abominate thought. Thinking implies disagreement; and disagreement implies nonconformity; and nonconformity implies heresy; and heresy implies disloyalty — so, obviously, thinking must be stopped. But shouting is not a substitute for thinking and reason is not the subversion but the salvation of freedom.

Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Call to Greatness, ch. 3 “America’s Burden” (1954)
(Source)

Adapted from his "A Troubled World," Godkin Lectures, Harvard University (1954-03-17 - 1954-03-20)

Lee, Harper -- To Kill a Mockingbird, ch. 11 (1960)

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

“They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

Harper Lee (1926-2016) American writer [Nellie Harper Lee]
To Kill a Mockingbird, ch. 11 (1960)
(Source)