WIST Quotations

Holland, Barbara -- In Private LIfe, ch. 7 (1980)

Dave — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 13:52:57 +0000

The thousands of possible lives that used to spread out in front of me have snapped shut into one, and all I get is what I’ve got. It’s time to pass on the possibilities, all those deliciously half-open doors, to my children, and drive them to the airports, and wish them bon voyage.

Barbara Holland (1933-2010) American author
In Private LIfe, ch. 7 (1980)
(Source)

Brodsky, Joseph -- “Less Than One,” Less Than One: Selected Essays (1986)

Dave — Tue, 04 May 2021 15:16:30 +0000

The formula for prison is a lack of space counterbalanced by a surplus of time. This is what really bothers you, that you can’t win. Prison is lack of alternatives, and the telescopic predictability of the future is what drives you crazy.

Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) Russian-American poet, essayist, Nobel laureate, US Poet Laureate [Iosif Aleksandrovič Brodskij]
“Less Than One,” Less Than One: Selected Essays (1986)
(Source)

Sophocles -- Antigone, l. 568ff (441 BC) [tr. Jebb (1891)]

Dave — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 18:18:59 +0000

ISMENE: What? You will kill your own son’s bride?
CREON: Why not? There are other fields for him to plough.

[Ἰσμήνη: ἀλλὰ κτενεῖς νυμφεῖα τοῦ σαυτοῦ τέκνου;
Κρέων: ἀρώσιμοι γὰρ χἀτέρων εἰσὶν γύαι.]

Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
Antigone, l. 568ff (441 BC) [tr. Jebb (1891)]
(Source)

Alt. trans.:

ISMENE: What! wilt though slay thine own son's bridal hopes!
KREON: The glebes of other women may be ploughed.
[tr. Donaldson (1848)]

ISMENE: What, wilt thou slay thy own son's plighted bride?
CREON: Aye, let him raise him seed from other fields.
[tr. Storr (1859)]

ISMENE: But your own son’s bride!
CREON: There are places enough for him to push his plow.
[tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939), c. l. 455]

ISMENE: But she is Haemon's bride -- and can you kill her?
CREON: Is she the only woman he can bed with?
[tr. Kitto (1962)]

ISMENE: But will you really kill the bride of your son?
CREON: There's other ground for him to plow, you know.
[tr. Woodruff (2001)]

ISMENE: Will you kill your son’s bride-to-be?
CREON: There is much more fertile land in the world for my son, Haemon.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

ISMENE: But will you kill your own son's promised bride?
CREON: Oh, there are other furrows for his plough.
[tr. Wyckoff]

ISMENE: You would kill the bride of your own son?
CREON: There are other fields just as fertile.
[tr. Thomas]

ISMENE: But in that case you will kill your own son’s nuptial rites?
CREON: Yes, the fields of others are fit for the plow.
[tr. Tyrell/Bennett]

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” The New York Review of Books

Dave — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 14:58:42 +0000

The chief reason warfare is still with us is neither a secret death-wish of the human species, nor an irrepressible instinct of aggression, nor, finally and more plausibly, the serious economic and social dangers inherent in disarmament, but the simple fact that no substitute for this final arbiter in international affairs has yet appeared on the political scene.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” The New York Review of Books
(Source)

Revised and collected in On Violence, ch. 1 (1970).

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight (1982)

Dave — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 23:40:30 +0000

The most important tactic in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight (1982)
(Source)

Frequently misquoted: "The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face."

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” #6 (1878)

Dave — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 17:34:06 +0000

It is the mark of a good action that it appears inevitable in retrospect.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
“Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” #6 (1878)
(Source)

Angelou, Maya -- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, ch. 17 (1969)

Dave — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 00:41:01 +0000

Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, ch. 17 (1969)
(Source)

Butcher, Jim -- Cold Days (2012)

Dave — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:42:41 +0000

There’s always, always a choice. My options might really, truly suck, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a choice.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Cold Days (2012)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Letter (1862-07-26) to Revardy Johnson

Dave — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:58:30 +0000

I must save this government if possible. What I cannot do, of course I will not do; but it may as well be understood, once for all, that I shall not surrender this game leaving any available card unplayed.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Letter (1862-07-26) to Revardy Johnson
(Source)

Huxley, T. H. -- “Address on University Education,” opening ceremonies of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (12 Sep 1876)

Dave — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:44:03 +0000

A man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes. So long as a man is struggling with obstacles he has an excuse for failure or shortcoming; but when fortune removes them all and gives him the power of doing as he thinks best, then comes the time of trial. There is but one right, and the possibilities of wrong are infinite.

T. H. Huxley (1825-1895) English biologist [Thomas Henry Huxley]
“Address on University Education,” opening ceremonies of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (12 Sep 1876)
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1878-04), “Æs Triplex,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:03:35 +0000

To be over-wise is to ossify; and the scruple-monger ends by standing stock-still.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-04), “Æs Triplex,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
(Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers (1881).

Sun-Tzu -- (Spurious)

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

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Sun-Tzu (fl. 6th C. AD) Chinese general and philosopher [a.k.a. Sun Wu]
(Spurious)

Wooden, John -- Coach Wooden One-on-One, “Day 25” (2003) [with Jay Carty]

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

Do not permit what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do.

John Wooden (1910-2010) American basketball player and coach
Coach Wooden One-on-One, “Day 25” (2003) [with Jay Carty]
(Source)

Variant: "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."