WIST Quotations

Lebowitz, Fran -- Interview (2021-02-17), BBC Newsnight

Dave — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 19:23:04 +0000

Being offended is a natural consequence of leaving the house.

Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist, essayist
Interview (2021-02-17), BBC Newsnight

(Source (Video), at the 1:23 mark)

Martin, Judith -- Interview (1995-03-06) by Virginia Shea, “Miss Mannners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Internet Behavior,” Computerworld, Vol. 29, No. 10

Dave — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 17:31:26 +0000

I always presume, because it helps me get up in the morning, that most people are people of goodwill and would like to restrain themselves from offending people if they knew what was offensive.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Interview (1995-03-06) by Virginia Shea, “Miss Mannners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Internet Behavior,” Computerworld, Vol. 29, No. 10
(Source)

Martin, Judith -- Interview (1995-03-06) by Virginia Shea, “Miss Mannners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Internet Behavior,” Computerworld, Vol. 29, No. 10

Dave — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 17:48:51 +0000

You can deny all you want that there is etiquette, and a lot of people do in everyday life. But if you behave in a way that offends the people you’re trying to deal with, they will stop dealing with you.

Carlyle, Thomas -- Essay (1837-12-06), “On Sir Walter Scott,” The London and Westminster Review, No. 12/55, Art. 2 (1838-01)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 00:41:56 +0000

No man lives without jostling and being jostled; in all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and receiving offense.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1837-12-06), “On Sir Walter Scott,” The London and Westminster Review, No. 12/55, Art. 2 (1838-01)
(Source)

Review of J. G. Lockhart, Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Baronet, 6 vols. (1837). Collected in Carlyle, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827-1855).

Sterne, Laurence -- Tristam Shandy, Book 1, ch. 12 (1760-1767)

Dave — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:54:25 +0000

For every ten jokes, thou hast got a hundred enemies.

Laurence Sterne (1713-1786) Anglo-Irish novelist, Anglican clergyman
Tristam Shandy, Book 1, ch. 12 (1760-1767)