WIST Quotations

Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas -- The Art of Poetry [L’Art Poétique], Canto 1, l. 171 (1674)

Dave — Wed, 11 May 2016 13:54:41 +0000

Hasten slowly, and without losing heart,
Put your work twenty times upon the anvil.

[Hâtez-vous lentement ; et, sans perdre courage,
Vingt fois sur le métier remettez votre ouvrage.]

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711) French poet and critic
The Art of Poetry [L’Art Poétique], Canto 1, l. 171 (1674)

Aesop -- Fables [Aesopica], “The Crow and the Pitcher” (6th C BC) [tr. Jacobs (1894)]

Dave — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 14:25:24 +0000

Little by little does the trick.

Aesop (620?-560? BC) Legendary Greek storyteller
Fables [Aesopica], “The Crow and the Pitcher” (6th C BC) [tr. Jacobs (1894)]
(Source)

Another translation: "Skill and Patience will succeed where Force fails" [tr. James (1848)]

~Other -- T. H. Palmer, “Try, Try Again,” The Teacher’s Manual (1840)

Dave — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 13:56:04 +0000

‘Tis a lesson you should heed,
Try, try again;
If at first you don’t succeed,
Try, try again.

(Other Authors and Sources)
T. H. Palmer, “Try, Try Again,” The Teacher’s Manual (1840)
(Source)

Sometimes attributed to Charles Theodore Hart Palmer (1827-1897), but the book is clearly by Thomas H. Palmer, and was published in 1840 when Charles T. H. Palmer was 13 years old.

Enright, Anne -- In “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction,” The Guardian (20 Feb 2010)

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:37:50 +0000

The way to write a book is to actually write a book. A pen is useful, typing is also good. Keep putting words on the page.

Anne Enright (b. 1962) Irish writer
In “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction,” The Guardian (20 Feb 2010)
(Source)