WIST Quotations

Stevenson, Adlai -- Speech (1952-09-18), “The Atomic Future,” Bushnell Memorial Auditorium, Hartford, Connecticut

Dave — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:13:36 +0000

If the voters of this nation ever stop looking at the record and the character of candidates, and look only at their party label, it will be a sorry day for healthy democracy.

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-09-18), “The Atomic Future,” Bushnell Memorial Auditorium, Hartford, Connecticut
(Source)

Criticizing a comment from Eisenhower that a presidential candidate should support the party ticket, regardless of who was on it.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 2, New Road (1943-06)

Dave — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 15:26:13 +0000

But what impressed me then, and has impressed me ever since, is that atrocities are believed in or disbelieved in solely on grounds of political predilection. Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 2, New Road (1943-06)
(Source)

Hoover, Herbert -- Speech (1951-08-01), “On the Two-Party System,” Utah Republican Outing, Salt Lake City, Utah

Dave — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 23:14:49 +0000

The very basis of Representative Government is a two‐party system. It is one of the essential checks and balances against inefficiency, dishonesty, and tyranny.
An organized, effective opposition which insists upon disclosure of the facts and submits them to the anvil of debate is the one safety Representative Government has.
Moreover, the people must have alternative programs of action upon which they may decide at the ballot box.
Beyond this, any party in power accumulates barnacles and deadwood which can only be rid by a change in administration.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
Speech (1951-08-01), “On the Two-Party System,” Utah Republican Outing, Salt Lake City, Utah
(Source)

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101

Dave — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 18:19:51 +0000

Every one that has been long dead has a due proportion of praise allotted him, in which, whilst he lived, his friends were too profuse, and his enemies too sparing.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1925-03-29), “Weekly Article”

Dave — Fri, 02 May 2025 18:57:15 +0000

All you would have to do to make some men Atheists is just to tell them that the Lord belonged to the opposition Political Party. After that they could never see any good in Him.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1925-03-29), “Weekly Article”
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- Interview by Woodrow Wyatt, BBC TV (1959)

Dave — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 16:12:40 +0000

A fanatical group all together have a comfortable feeling that they’re all friends with one another. They are all very much excited about the same thing. You can see it in any political party. There’s always a fringe of fanatics in any political party, and they feel very cozy with one another; and when that is spread about and is combined with a propensity to hate some other group, you get fanaticism well developed.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Interview by Woodrow Wyatt, BBC TV (1959)
(Source)

Collected in Bertrand Russell's BBC Interviews (1959) [UK] and Bertrand Russell Speaks His Mind (1960) [US]. Reprinted (abridged) in The Humanist (1982-11/12), and in Russell Society News, #37 (1983-02).

Rogers, Will -- Column (1923-11-11), “Weekly Article: Come On, Boys, Let’s Rescue the Politicians” [No. 48]

Dave — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 15:01:44 +0000

You take a Democrat and a Republican and you keep them both out of office and I bet you they will turn out to be good friends and maybe make useful citizens, and devote their time to some work instead of lectioneering all the time.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1923-11-11), “Weekly Article: Come On, Boys, Let’s Rescue the Politicians” [No. 48]
(Source)

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 142 (1647) [tr. Maurer (1992)]

Dave — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 15:17:13 +0000

The vulgar ignorance of stubborn people makes them prefer contention to truth and utility. Prudent people are on the side of reason, not passion, whether because they foresaw it from the first, or because they improved their position later.

[Vulgaridad de temáticos, no reparar en la verdad, por contradecir, ni en la utilidad, por litigar. El atento siempre está de parte de la razón, no de la pasión, o anticipándose antes o mejorándose después.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 142 (1647) [tr. Maurer (1992)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

It is the custome of the head strong to regard neither truth in contradicting; nor profit in disputing. A wise man hath always reason on his side, and never falls into passion. He either prevents or retreats.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

'Tis the common failing of the obstinate that they lose the true by contradicting it, and the useful by quarrelling with it. The sage never places himself on the side of passion but espouses the cause of right, either discovering it first or improving it later.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

The vulgarity of these clowns, that they observe not the truth, because they lie, nor yet their own interest, because on the wrong side. A heedful man stands always on the side of reason, and never that of passion, either because he foresaw it from the first, or found it better afterwards.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 142 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]

Dave — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 16:00:02 +0000

Never from Obstinacy take the Wrong Side because your Opponent has anticipated you in taking the Right One.

[Nunca por tema seguir el peor partido, porque el contrario se adelantó y escogió el mejor.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 142 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

Never to espouse a bad party in spight to an Adversary, who hath taken the better.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

Never out of stubbornness hold to the wrong side, just because your adversary anticipated you, and chose the right.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

Don’t defend the wrong side out of stubbornness, just because your opponent happened to arrive first and choose the right side.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

Gaiman, Neil -- Blog entry (2003-06-15), “Walking Down the Street Naked, Possibly with a Mullet”

Dave — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 16:55:57 +0000

Of course, when stood next to the choice of American political parties (“So, would you like Right Wing, or Supersized Right Wing with Extra Fries?”) my English fuzzy middle-of-the-roadness probably translates easily as bomb-throwing Trotskyist, but when I get to chat to proper lefties like Ken MacLeod or China Mieville I feel myself retreating rapidly back into the woffly Guardian-reading why-can’t-people-just-be-nice-to-each-otherhood of the politically out of his depth.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Blog entry (2003-06-15), “Walking Down the Street Naked, Possibly with a Mullet”
(Source)

When asked whether (and denying) he is a Communist.

Adams, Douglas -- Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 4, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, ch. 36 (1984)

Dave — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 23:29:01 +0000

“It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see ….”
“You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?”
“No,” said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, “nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people.”
“Odd,” said Arthur, “I thought you said it was a democracy.”
“I did,” said Ford. “It is.”
“So,” said Arthur, hoping he wasn’t sounding ridiculously obtuse, “why don’t the people get rid of the lizards?”
“It honestly doesn’t occur to them,” said Ford. “They’ve all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they’ve voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.”
“You mean they actually vote for the lizards?”
“Oh yes,” said Ford with a shrug, “of course.”
“But,” said Arthur, going for the big one again, “why?”
“Because if they didn’t vote for a lizard,” said Ford, “the wrong lizard might get in.”

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 4, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, ch. 36 (1984)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 17 (1.17) / sec. 39 (1.39) (45 BC) [tr. @sententiq (2012)]

Dave — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 16:40:30 +0000

AUDITOR: By Hercules, I prefer to be wrong with Plato […] than to be right with those idiots.

[Errare mehercule malo cum Platone […] quam cum istis vera sentire.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 17 (1.17) / sec. 39 (1.39) (45 BC) [tr. @sententiq (2012)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Had rather, I assure you, be mistaken with Plato [...] than to be of their opinion in the right.
[tr. Wase (1643)]

I had rather, so help me Hercules, be mistaken with Plato [...] than be in the right with them.
[tr. Main (1824)]

I would rather err, by Hercules, with Plato [...] than to embrace the truth with those others.
[tr. Otis (1839)]

I had rather, so help me Hercules! be mistaken with Plato [...] than be in the right with those others.
[tr. Yonge (1853)]

I would rather, by Hercules, err with Plato [...] than hold the truth with those other philosophers.
[tr. Peabody (1886)]

I would rather, so help me Hercules! be wrong with Plato [...] than be right with all the rest of them.
[tr. Black (1889)]

In very truth I would rather be wrong with Plato than right with such men as these.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]

By Hercules, I prefer to err with Plato [...] than to be right in the company of such men.
[ed. Taylor/Hunt (1916)]

I assure you that I would rather go wrong with Plato [...] than share correct views with those who disagree with him.
[tr. Douglas (1985)]

Good lord! I'd rather go wrong with Plato than be right with the others.
[tr. Habinek (1996)]

Believe me, I'd rather go wrong in the company of Plato [...] than hold the right views with his opponents.
[tr. Davie (2017)]

Orwell, George -- Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 16:43:25 +0000

History is thought of largely in nationalist terms, and such things as the Inquisition, the tortures of the Star Chamber, the exploits of the English buccaneers (Sir Francis Drake, for instance, who was given to sinking Spanish prisoners alive), the Reign of Terror, the heroes of the Mutiny blowing hundreds of Indians from the guns, or Cromwell’s soldiers slashing Irishwomen’s faces with razors, become morally neutral or even meritorious when it is felt that they were done in the “right” cause. If one looks back over the past quarter of a century, one finds that there was hardly a single year when atrocity stories were not being reported from some part of the world; and yet in not one single case were these atrocities — in Spain, Russia, China, Hungary, Mexico, Amritsar, Smyrna — believed in and disapproved of by the English intelligentsia as a whole. Whether such deeds were reprehensible, or even whether they happened, was always decided according to political predilection.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)
(Source)

Polk, James K. -- Inaugural Address (4 Mar 1845)

Dave — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:07:38 +0000

Although in our country the Chief Magistrate must almost of necessity be chosen by a party and stand pledged to its principles and measures, yet in his official action he should not be the President of a part only, but of the whole people of the United States. While he executes the laws with an impartial hand, shrinks from no proper responsibility, and faithfully carries out in the executive department of the Government the principles and policy of those who have chosen him, he should not be unmindful that our fellow-citizens who have differed with him in opinion are entitled to the full and free exercise of their opinions and judgments, and that the rights of all are entitled to respect and regard.

James K. Polk (1795-1849) American lawyer, politician, US President (1845-1849)
Inaugural Address (4 Mar 1845)
(Source)

Kempton, Murray -- Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties (1955)

Dave — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 22:16:47 +0000

Every social war is a battle between the very few on both sides who care and who fire their shots across a crowd of spectators.

Murray Kempton (1917-1997) American journalist.
Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties (1955)
(Source)

Nash, Ogden -- “Seeing Eye to Eye is Believing,” Good Intentions (1942)

Dave — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 22:13:34 +0000

Naturally I am not pointing a finger at me,

But I must admit that I find Mr. Ickes or any other speaker far more convincing when I agree with him than when I disagree.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“Seeing Eye to Eye is Believing,” Good Intentions (1942)
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- “The Character of Man” (23 Jan 1906), in The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1 (2010)

Dave — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:29:10 +0000

Look at the tyranny of party — at what is called party allegiance, party loyalty — a snare invented by designing men for selfish purposes — and which turns voters into chattels, slaves, rabbits, and all the while their masters, and they themselves are shouting rubbish about liberty, independence, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, honestly unconscious of the fantastic contradiction; and forgetting or ignoring that their fathers and the churches shouted the same blasphemies a generation earlier when they were closing their doors against the hunted slave, beating his handful of humane defenders with Bible texts and billies, and pocketing the insults and licking the shoes of his Southern Master.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
“The Character of Man” (23 Jan 1906), in The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1 (2010)

Adams, John -- Letter (1813-07-09) to Thomas Jefferson

Dave — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 01:53:08 +0000

While all other Sciences have advanced, that of Government is at a Stand; little better understood; little better practiced now than 3 or 4 thousand years ago. What is the Reason? I say Parties and Factions will not Suffer, or permit Improvements to be made. As Soon as one Man hints at an improvement his Rival opposes it. No sooner has one Party discovered or invented an Amelioration of the condition of Man or the order of Society, than the opposite Party, belies it, misconstrues it, misrepresents it, ridicules it, insults it, and persecutes it.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1813-07-09) to Thomas Jefferson
(Source)

Keillor, Garrison -- “We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore,” In These Times (26 Aug 2004)

Dave — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 12:54:21 +0000

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk.

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
“We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore,” In These Times (26 Aug 2004)
(Source)

Ford, Gerald R. -- Speech, Profiles in Courage Award Acceptance, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (2001)

Dave — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 15:38:15 +0000

If there is distrust out there — and there is — perhaps it is because there is so much partisan jockeying for advantage at the expense of public policy. At times it feels as if American politics consists largely of candidates without ideas, hiring consultants without convictions, to stage campaigns without content. Increasingly the result is elections without voters.

Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006) American politician, US President (1974-77) [b. Leslie Lynch King, Jr.]
Speech, Profiles in Courage Award Acceptance, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (2001)
(Source)

Stewart, Jon -- Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, closing speech (2010-10-30)

Dave — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 12:04:59 +0000

Most Americans don’t live their lives solely as Democrats or Republicans or conservatives or liberals. Most Americans live their lives that are just a little bit late for something they have to do. Often it’s something they do not want to do, but they do it. Impossible things get done every day that are only made possible by the little, reasonable compromises.

Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, closing speech (2010-10-30)
(Source)

Video.

Mill, John Stuart -- On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)

Dave — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:30:44 +0000

In politics, again, it is almost a commonplace, that a party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life. […] Each of these modes of thinking derives its utility from the deficiencies of the other; but it is in a great measure the opposition of the other that keeps each within the limits of reason and sanity.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)
(Source)

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (2000-07-23), “Is ‘Republican Tax Break For the Rich’ Simply Redundant?” Creators Syndicate column

Dave — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:52:56 +0000

It’s like, duh. Just when you thought there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you’re wrong.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (2000-07-23), “Is ‘Republican Tax Break For the Rich’ Simply Redundant?” Creators Syndicate column

Lincoln, Abraham -- Letter (1863-05-27) to Gen. John M. Schofield

Dave — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:45:37 +0000

If both factions, or neither, shall abuse you, you will probably be about right. Beware of being assailed by one and praised by the other.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Letter (1863-05-27) to Gen. John M. Schofield
(Source)

On assigning him to the command of the Department of the Missouri, having removed the previous commander there because of his involvement on one side of local, factional politics.

Stewart, Jon -- The Daily Show (2008-08-26)

Dave — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:19:05 +0000

She’s a Democrat. She must prove she loves America. As opposed to Republicans, who everyone knows love America — they just hate half the people living in it.

Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
The Daily Show (2008-08-26)
(Source)

On "Michelle Obama's Patriotism."

Stewart, Jon -- “No News Is Good News,” interview by Adam Bulger, The Hartford Advocate (2008-06-12)

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:03:49 +0000

I reject the idea there are just two sides. I think that with the amount of ideas and thoughts there are, it’s not even going to be consistent with the same person. People can hold liberal and conservative dogma points at the same time. They’re not living their lives via platforms. They’re living their lives. The whole thing is an awfully tired construct.

Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
“No News Is Good News,” interview by Adam Bulger, The Hartford Advocate (2008-06-12)
(Source)

Smith, Margaret Chase -- “Declaration of Conscience,” Congressional Record, vol. 96, 81st Congress, 2d. sess. (1 Jun 1950)

Dave — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:08:53 +0000

It is high time that we stopped thinking politically as Republicans and Democrats about elections and started thinking patriotically as Americans about national security based on individual freedom. It is high time that we all stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques — techniques that, if continued here unchecked, will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American Way of Life.

Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1965) American politician (US Senator, Maine)
“Declaration of Conscience,” Congressional Record, vol. 96, 81st Congress, 2d. sess. (1 Jun 1950)
(Source)

Lippmann, Walter -- A Preface to Morals, ch. 7 (1913)

Dave — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:57:09 +0000

Once you touch the biographies of human beings, the notion that political beliefs are logically determined collapses like a pricked balloon.

Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) American journalist and author
A Preface to Morals, ch. 7 (1913)
(Source)

Adams, John -- Letter (1780-10-02) to Jonathan Jackson

Dave — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:20:31 +0000

There is nothing I dread So much, as a Division of the Republick into two great Parties, each arranged under its Leader, and concerting Measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble Apprehension is to be dreaded as the greatest political Evil, under our Constitution.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1780-10-02) to Jonathan Jackson
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1789-03-13) to Francis Hopkinson

Dave — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:19:52 +0000

I am not a Federalist, because I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in any thing else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all. Therefore I protest to you I am not of the party of federalists. But I am much farther from that of the Antifederalists.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1789-03-13) to Francis Hopkinson
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1922-12-31), “Weekly Article: Breaking into the Writing Game”

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

You know, the more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other. The one that’s out always looks the best.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1922-12-31), “Weekly Article: Breaking into the Writing Game”
(Source)

Reprinted in The Illiterate Digest (1924)

Often paraphrased along the lines of, "The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other."