WIST Quotations

Howell, James -- Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in Italian” (1659) [compiler]

Dave — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:03:09 +0000

By seeing one thou knowest him half, by hearing him speak thou knowst all.

[Vedendo uno conosci mezzo, udendolo parlar il conosci tutto.]

James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian, writer, aphorist
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in Italian” (1659) [compiler]

See also the Bible, Menander.

Manning, Brennan -- The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 1 “Something is Radically Wrong” (1990)

Dave — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:12:46 +0000

When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.

Brennan Manning (1934–2013) American author, laicized priest, theologian, speaker [Richard Francis Xavier Manning]
The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 1 “Something is Radically Wrong” (1990)

Rickover, Hyman -- Speech (1954-03-16), “Administering a Large Military Development Project,” US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California

Dave — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 19:49:56 +0000

Somehow, things just didn’t work out the way the books on administration and on leadership said they should, and I early became aware that I could never qualify as a leader, if it were really necessary that I possess the twenty or so qualities most books or articles on leadership claimed to be necessary. So far, I have found no one in the Navy or in industry who possesses more than a few of these qualities, and so I have regretfully come to the conclusion that the only person who ever possessed all of them died some 1900 years ago.

Hyman Rickover (1900–1986) Polish-American naval engineer, admiral [b. Chaim Gdala Rykower]
Speech (1954-03-16), “Administering a Large Military Development Project,” US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-05-18), The Spectator, No. 68

Dave — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:44:59 +0000

In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow,
Thou’rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow ,
Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee,
There is no living with thee, nor without thee.

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-05-18), The Spectator, No. 68

Addison's translation of Martial's Epigram 12.47.

Moore, C. L. -- Story (1944-12), “No Woman Born,” Astounding Science Fiction, Vol. 34, No. 4

Dave — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 23:51:30 +0000

A dweller in a house may impress his personality upon the walls, but subtly the walls too, may impress their own shape upon the ego of the man.

C. L. Moore (1911–1987) American writer, feminist [Catherine Lucille Moore, Catherine Kuttner]
Story (1944-12), “No Woman Born,” Astounding Science Fiction, Vol. 34, No. 4

Carlyle, Thomas -- Sartor Resartus, Book 1, ch. 4 (1834)

Dave — Thu, 01 May 2025 17:45:12 +0000

How much lies in Laughter: the cipher-key, wherewith we decipher the whole man! Some men wear an everlasting barren simper; in the smile of others lies a cold glitter as of ice: the fewest are able to laugh, what can be called laughing, but only sniff and titter and snigger from the throat outwards; or at best, produce some whiffling husky cachinnation, as if they were laughing through wool: of none such comes good. The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; but his whole life is already a treason and a stratagem.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 1, ch. 4 (1834)

This chapter first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 8, No. 47 (1883-11).

"Treasons, stratagems, and spoils" comes from Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 92ff, where it's used to describe "the man that hath no music in himself."

Carlyle, Thomas -- “Jean Paul Friedrich Richter,” Edinburgh Review No. 91, Art. 7 (1827-06)

Dave — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 21:51:33 +0000

For the great law of culture is: Let each become all that he was created capable of being; expand, if possible, to his full growth; resisting all impediments, casting off all foreign, especially all noxious adhesions; and show himself at length in his own shape and stature, be these what they may.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
“Jean Paul Friedrich Richter,” Edinburgh Review No. 91, Art. 7 (1827-06)

A review of Heinrich Döring, Jean Paul Friedrich Richter's Life, with a Sketch of His Works (1826).

Nin, Anais -- Diary (1937-03)

Dave — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 15:47:51 +0000

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) Catalan-Cuban-French author, diarist
Diary (1937-03)

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 52 (1795) [tr. Hutchinson (1902), “The Cynic’s Breviary”]

Dave — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 15:29:41 +0000

In great actions men show themselves as they ought to be, in small actions as they are.

[Dans les grandes choses, les hommes se montrent comme il leur convient de se montrer; dans les petites, ils se montrent comme ils sont.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741–1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 52 (1795) [tr. Hutchinson (1902), “The Cynic’s Breviary”]

(Source (French)). Other translations:

In great matters men show themselves as they ought; in little, as they are.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

In affairs of importance, men show themselves at their best advantage; in small matters they are seen as they are.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

In great things, men show themselves as they want to be seen; and in little ones they show themselves as they are.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

In important matters, men display themselves as they want to be seen; in minor matters as they really are.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶45]

Christie, Agatha -- The ABC Murders, ch. 21 [Poirot] (1936)

Dave — Tue, 14 May 2024 16:06:53 +0000

A human being, Hastings, cannot resist the opportunity to reveal himself and express his personality which conversation gives him. Every time he will give himself away.

Agatha Christie (1890–1976) English writer
The ABC Murders, ch. 21 [Poirot] (1936)

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 3, ch. 13 (3.13), “Of Experience [De l’Experience] (1587) [tr. Cotton (1686)]

Dave — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 00:53:28 +0000

‘Tis for little Souls, that truckle under the Weight of Affairs, not to know how clearly to disengage themselves, and not to know how to lay them aside, and take them up again.

[C’est aux petites ames ensevelies du poix des affaires, de ne s’en sçavoir purement desmesler : de ne les sçavoir et laisser et reprendre.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 3, ch. 13 (3.13), “Of Experience [De l’Experience] (1587) [tr. Cotton (1686)]

(Source (French)). Other translations:

It is for base and pettie mindes, dulled and overwhelmed with the weight of affaires, to be ignorant how to leave them, and not to know how to free themselves from them; nor how to leave and take them againe.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

’Tis for little souls, that truckle under the weight of affairs, not from them to know how clearly to disengage themselves, not to know how to lay them aside and take them up again.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

It is for small souls, buried under the weight of affairs, not to know how to free themselves therefrom entirely; not to know how to leave them and return to them.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

It is for little souls, buried under the weight of business, to be unable to detach themselves cleanly from it or to leave it and pick it up again.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

It is for petty souls overwhelmed by the weight of affairs to be unable to disentangle themselves for them completely, not knowing how to drop them and then take them up again.
[tr. Screech (1987)]

Bainbridge, Beryl -- “Beryl Bainbridge and Her Tenth Novel,” interview by Willa Petschek, New York Times (1981-03-01)

Dave — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:09:39 +0000

Childhood is a thing that happens so early you don’t forget it. Everything else you grow out of, but you never recover from childhood.

Beryl Bainbridge (1932–2010) English novelist
“Beryl Bainbridge and Her Tenth Novel,” interview by Willa Petschek, New York Times (1981-03-01)

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 164 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]

Dave — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 15:08:25 +0000

Preoccupation with money is the great test of small natures, but only a small test of great ones; there may be a wide gulf between a man who despises money and a genuinely honest man.

[L’intérêt d’argent est la grande épreuve des petits caractères; mais ce n’est encore que la plus petite pour les caractères distingués; et il y a loin de l’homme qui méprise l’argent, à celui qui est véritablement honnête.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741–1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 164 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]

(Source (French)). Other translations:

Concern for money is the great test of small natures; but is scarcely a test at all for those who rise above the ordinary; and there is a long way between the man who scorns money and the one who is genuinely honest.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

Pecuniary gain is the great test for those of weak character, but for those wit out-of-the-ordinary characters it is of the slightest importance; and a wide gulf separates the man who despises money from one who is truly honest.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]

Weak characters think money all-important; for any well-bred person, it's a very minor concern.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 129]

The desire for money can go very far in proving that a person has a petty character, but it has little to say about a persons sincerity; and there is a great distance between a man who scorns money and someone who is truly honest.
[tr. Siniscalchi]

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)

Dave — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 15:10:49 +0000

In the theater, as in life, we prefer a villain with a sense of humor to a hero without one.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)

Duncan, Isadora -- My Life, Introduction (1927)

Dave — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 17:40:38 +0000

It is only in romances that people undergo a sudden metamorphosis. In real life, even after the most terrible experiences, the main character remains exactly the same.

Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) American dancer, choreographer
My Life, Introduction (1927)

Confucius -- The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 17, verse 26 (17.26) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Lau (1979)]

Dave — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 00:05:03 +0000

If by the age of forty a man is still disliked there is no hope for him.

[年四十而見惡焉、其終也已。]

Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 17, verse 26 (17.26) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Lau (1979)]

(Source (Chinese)). Other translations:

When a man at forty is the object of dislike, he will always continue what he is.
[tr. Legge (1861)]

When a man meets with odium at forty, he will do so to the end.
[tr. Jennings (1895)]

If a man after forty is an object of dislike to men, he will continue to be so to the end of his days.
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]

If a man reach forty and yet be disliked by his fellows, he will be so to the end.
[tr. Soothill (1910)]

Forty and disliked. He is at the end already; too late to alter.
[tr. Soothill (1910) - alternate 1]

At 40 a man's character is settled, and if he still be detested by his fellows, then here his end is reached.
[tr. Soothill (1910) - alternate 2]

If a man is hateful at forty he'll be so to the end.
[tr. Pound (1933)]

One who has reached the age of forty and is still disliked will be so till the end.
[tr. Waley (1938)]

It is all over for the man of forty who is held in aversion.
[tr. Ware (1950), 17.24]

If hateful things are seen in one at the age of forty, that is indeed how one will end up.
[tr. Dawson (1993)]

Whoever, by the age of forty, is still disliked, will remain so till the end.
[tr. Leys (1997)]

If, at forty, a man is still loathed, he is done for.
[tr. Huang (1997), 17.25]

If one is still disliked at his forty years of age, one is going to the end.
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998), No. 466]

The person who at age forty still evokes the dislike of others is a hopeless case.
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998)]

If he is forty and is still hated, he will probably be so until the end.
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998), 17.24]

If you reach forty and find it all hateful, you'll be that way to the death.
[tr. Hinton (1998), 17.25]

If, having reached the age of forty, you still find yourself despised by others, you will remain despised until the end of your days.
[tr. Slingerland (2003)]

Forty and hated by others -- and he’ll be so the rest of his life.
[tr. Watson (2007)]

If a person has reached forty but is still an outcast, he will not have much hope for the rest of his life.
[tr. Li (2020)]

Connolly, Cyril -- The Unquiet Grave, Part 1 “Ecce Gubernator” (1944)

Dave — Tue, 17 May 2022 16:08:43 +0000

A stone lies in a river; a piece of wood is jammed against it; dead leaves, drifting logs, and branches caked with mud collect; weeds settle there, and soon birds have made a nest and are feeding their young among the blossoming water plants. Then the river rises and the earth is washed away. The birds depart, the flowers wither, the branches are dislodged and drift downward; no trace is left of the floating island but a stone submerged by the water; — such is our personality.

Cyril Connolly (1903–1974) English intellectual, literary critic and writer.
The Unquiet Grave, Part 1 “Ecce Gubernator” (1944)

Forster, E. M. -- “E. M. Forster,” Modern Writers: Interviews with Remarkable Authors, BBC (21 Dec 1958)

Dave — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 17:05:31 +0000

I am quite sure I am not a great novelist because I’ve only got down onto paper really three types of people: the person who I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I’d like to be. When you get to the really great people like Tolstoy, you find they can get hold of all types, but most novelists, including myself, are much more constricted in their imaginations and their sympathies.

E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“E. M. Forster,” Modern Writers: Interviews with Remarkable Authors, BBC (21 Dec 1958)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Beauty,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 8

Dave — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 22:03:42 +0000

Gross and obscure natures, however decorated, seem impure shambles; but character gives splendor to youth, and awe to wrinkled skin and gray hairs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Beauty,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 8

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg, 1851-03.

Martial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 12, epigram 47 (12.47) (AD 101) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

Dave — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 02:07:35 +0000

Captious, yet kind; pleasant but testy too;
I cannot bear to part, or live with you.

[Difficillis facillis, iucundus acerbus es idem:
Nec tecum possum vivere nec sine te.]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 12, epigram 47 (12.47) (AD 101) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

Sometimes given as 12.46. Ker notes the second line is borrowed from Ovid, Amores, 3.9.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow,
Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow;
Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee
There is no living with thee, or without thee.
[Addison, The Spectator No. 68 (1711-05-18)]

Such stiffness, ease; such sweets and sours about thee!
I cannot live, or with thee, or without thee.
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 12, #126]

Difficult and easy, churlish and pleasing; you are all of these, and yet one person;
there is no living with thee, nor without thee.
[tr. Amos (1858), ch. 3 #85]

Thou'rt merry, sad; easy, and hard to please;
Nor with nor from thee can I live at ease.
[tr. Wright (<1859)]

You are at once morose and agreeable, pleasing and repulsive.
I can neither live with you, nor without you.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

Captious, yet complaisant, sweet and bitter too,
I cannot with thee live, nor yet without thee.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]

Difficult and easy-going, pleasant and churlish, you are at the same time:
I can neither live with you nor without you.
[tr. Ker (1919)]

O sweet and bitter in a breath,
O genial comrade, crusty friend,
Without thee life had sudden end,
With thee to dwell were sudden death.
[tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), #662]

There's something easy, difficult,
Hard and soft about you
All the time. I cannot live
With you or without you.
[tr. Marcellino (1968)]

Amiable but unco-operative,
Sweet-natured but a grouse --
Though I can't live without you, I can live
Without you in the house.
[tr. Michie (1972)]

You are difficult and easy, pleasant and sour; and I can't live with you nor yet without you.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993), 12.46]

You're difficult and easy, sweet and tart.
I cannot live with you, nor live apart.
[tr. McLean (2014), 12.46]

Difficult or easy, pleasant or bitter, you are the same you:
I cannot live with you -- or without you.
[Source]

Brown, Rita Mae -- Sudden Death (1983)

Dave — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 15:07:41 +0000

Sport strips away personality, letting the white bone of character shine through. Sport gives players an opportunity to know and test themselves.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Sudden Death (1983)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott -- This Side of Paradise, Book 1, ch. 3 [Darcy] (1920)

Dave — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:50:50 +0000

At fifteen you had the radiance of early morning, at twenty you will begin to have the melancholy brilliance of the moon, and when you are my age you will give out, as I do, the genial golden warmth of 4 P.M.

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American writer [Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald]
This Side of Paradise, Book 1, ch. 3 [Darcy] (1920)

Butler, Octavia -- Kindred, ch. 4, sec. 6 (1979)

Dave — Thu, 20 May 2021 18:12:00 +0000

“He’s a fair man.”
I looked at him, startled.
“I said fair,” he repeated. “Not likable.”

Octavia Butler (1947–2006) American writer
Kindred, ch. 4, sec. 6 (1979)

Teller, Edward -- Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics, ch. 10 (1991) [with Wendy Teller and Wilson Talley]

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 16:47:00 +0000

Physics is, hopefully, simple. Physicists are not.

Edward Teller (1908–2003) Hungarian-American theoretical physicist
Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics, ch. 10 (1991) [with Wendy Teller and Wilson Talley]

Morris, Edmund -- In Newsweek (23 Jan 1996)

Dave — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 22:31:38 +0000

About six months ago, he stopped recognizing me. Now I no longer recognize him.

Edmund Morris (1940–2019) South African-American writer and biographer
In Newsweek (23 Jan 1996)

On Ronald Reagan and Alzheimer's Disease, quoted while working on the authorized biography, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (1999).

Gershwin, Ira -- “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”, Shall We Dance (1937)

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:10:24 +0000

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The mem’ry of all that —
No, no! They can’t take that away from me!

Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) American lyricist [b. Israel Gershowitz]
“They Can’t Take That Away from Me”, Shall We Dance (1937)

Greene, Graham -- “The Poker-Face,” The Spectator (15 Oct 1943)

Dave — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 18:51:00 +0000

It isn’t easy for an author to remain a pleasant human being: both success and failure are usually of a crippling kind.

Graham Greene (1904–1991) English novelist [Henry Graham Greene]
“The Poker-Face,” The Spectator (15 Oct 1943)

Reprinted in The Lost Childhood and Other Essays (1951).

Hepburn, Audrey -- “Hepburn Heart,” Interview with Dominick Dunne, Vanity Fair (May 1991)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 18:48:28 +0000

I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.

Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) Belgian-English actress
“Hepburn Heart,” Interview with Dominick Dunne, Vanity Fair (May 1991)

Plato -- (Spurious)

Dave — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 02:24:28 +0000

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Plato (c.428–347 BC) Greek philosopher
(Spurious)

Frequently attributed to Plato, starting in the 1950s, but not found in his works. Earliest citation is as a Portuguese proverb, in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs, tr. Henry G. Bohn (1857): "Mais descobre huma hora de jogo, que hum anno de conversação." For more see here.

De Vries, Peter -- Mrs. Wallop (1970)

Dave — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 00:16:32 +0000

For the whole thing about matrimony is this: We fall in love with a personality, but we must live with a character. Behind the pretty wallpaper and the brightly painted plaster lurk the yards of tangled wire and twisted pipes, ready to run a short or spring a leak on us without a word of warning.

Peter De Vries (1910–1993) American editor, novelist, satirist
Mrs. Wallop (1970)

Often misquoted as "The difficulty with marriage is that ..."

Hurston, Zora Neale -- “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”, The World Tomorrow (May 1928)

Dave — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 01:46:19 +0000

But in the main, I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red and yellow. Pour out the contents, and there is discovered a jumble of small things priceless and worthless. A first-water diamond, an empty spool, bits of broken glass, lengths of string, a key to a door long since crumbled away, a rusty knife-blade, old shoes saved for a road that never was and never will be, a nail bent under the weight of things too heavy for any nail, a dried flower or two still a little fragrant.

In your hand is the brown bag. On the ground before you is the jumble it held — so much like the jumble in the bags, could they be emptied, that all might be dumped in a single heap and the bags refilled without altering the content of any greatly. A bit of colored glass more or less would not matter. Perhaps that is how the Great Stuffer of Bags filled them in the first place — who knows?

Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) American writer, folklorist, anthropologist
“How It Feels to Be Colored Me”, The World Tomorrow (May 1928)

Mauriac, Francois -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 19:52:27 +0000

“Tell me what you read and I’ll tell you who you are” is true enough, but I’d know you better if you told me what you re-read.

François Mauriac (1885–1970) French author, critic, journalist
(Attributed)

Karr, Alphonse -- A Tour Round My Garden [Voyage autour de mon jardin] (1851)

Dave — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 20:24:55 +0000

Every man has three characters — that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has.

Alphonse Karr (1808–1890) French journalist and novelist
A Tour Round My Garden [Voyage autour de mon jardin] (1851)

Lee, Harper -- To Kill a Mockingbird, ch. 23 (1960)

Dave — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 21:04:58 +0000

As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it — whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.

Harper Lee (1926–2016) American writer [Nellie Harper Lee]
To Kill a Mockingbird, ch. 23 (1960)

King, Martin Luther -- “Conquering Self-Centeredness,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (11 Aug 1957)

Dave — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 21:55:37 +0000

An individual has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow horizons of his particular individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. And this is one of the big problems of life, that so many people never quite get to the point of rising above self. And so they end up the tragic victims of self-centeredness. They end up the victims of distorted and disrupted personality.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Conquering Self-Centeredness,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (11 Aug 1957)

Hale, Edward Everett -- “Ten Times One is Ten” (1870)

Dave — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 18:13:39 +0000

To look up and not down,
To look forward and not back,
To look out and not in — and
To lend a hand.

Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) American clergyman and author
“Ten Times One is Ten” (1870)

Fielding, Henry -- The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great, Vol. 5 (1743)

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 15:56:31 +0000

We should not be too hasty in bestowing either our praise or censure on mankind, since we shall often find such a mixture of good and evil in the same character, that it may require a very accurate judgment and a very elaborate inquiry to determine on which side the balance turns.

Henry Fielding (1707–1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great, Vol. 5 (1743)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 23:02:22 +0000

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. We can only see what we are, and if we misbehave we suspect others.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The American Scholar,” sec. 3, speech, Phi Beta Kappa Society, Cambridge (1837-08-31)

Dave — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 05:27:42 +0000

Character is higher than intellect.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The American Scholar,” sec. 3, speech, Phi Beta Kappa Society, Cambridge (1837-08-31)

Ziglar, Zig -- Biscuits, Fleas, and Pump Handles (1974)

Dave — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 01:19:37 +0000

What you get by reaching your goals is not nearly so important as what you become by reaching them.

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar (1926–2012) American author, salesperson, motivational speaker
Biscuits, Fleas, and Pump Handles (1974)

Ziglar used multiple variations of this phrase. Also attributed to Goethe and Thoreau. For more discussion see here.

Confucius -- The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 2, verse 10 (2.10) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Giles (1907)]

Dave — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 03:46:33 +0000

Observe a man’s actions; scrutinize his motives; take note of the things that give him pleasure. How, then, can he hide from you what he really is?

[視其所以。觀其所由。察其所安。人焉廋哉、人焉廋哉]

Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 2, verse 10 (2.10) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Giles (1907)]

(Source (Chinese)). Other translations:

See what a man does. Mark his motives. Examine in what things he rests. How can a man conceal his character? How can a man conceal his character?
[tr. Legge (1861)]

If you observe what things people (usually) take in hand, watch their motives, and note particularly what it is that gives them satisfaction, shall they be able to conceal from you what they are? Conceal themselves, indeed!
[tr. Jennings (1895)]

You look at how a man acts; consider his motives; find out his tastes. How can a man hide himself; how can he hide himself from you?
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]

Observe what he does; look into his motives; find out in what he rests. Can a man hide himself! Can a man hide himself!
[tr. Soothill (1910)]

Watch a man’s means, what and how. See what starts him. See what he is at ease in. How can a man conceal his real bent?
[tr. Pound (1933)]

Look closely into his aims, observe the means by which e pursues them, discover what brings him content -- and can the man's real worth remain hidden from you, can it remain hidden from you?
[tr. Waley (1938)]

Look at the means which a man employs; consider his motives; observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself!
[tr. Ware (1950)]

Observe a man's actions; scrutinize his motives; and study what makes him content. How can a man conceal himself?
[tr. Chai (1965)]

Look at the means a man employs, observe the path he takes and examine where he feels at home. In what way is a man's true character hidden from view? In what way is man's true character hidden from view?
[tr. Lau (1979)]

See how he operates, observe what path he follows, examine what his is satisfied with, and how can a man remain inscrutable, how can a man remain inscrutable!
[tr. Dawson (1993)]

Find out why a man acts, observe how he acts, and examine where he finds his peace. Is there anything he could still hide?
[tr. Leys (1997)]

See what a man does; contemplate the path he has traversed; examine what he is at ease with. How, then, can he conceal himself? How, then, can he conceal himself?
[tr. Huang (1997)]

See what a man does; contemplate the path he has traversed; examine what he is at ease with. How, then, can he conceal himself?
[tr. Huang (1997)]

Watching one's action, examining one's experience, and observing one's favorite. What could one hide? What could one hide?
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998)]

Watch their actions, observe their motives, examine wherein they dwell content; won't you know what kind of person they are? Won't you know what kind of person they are?
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998)]

See what he bases himself on, observe what he follows, find out what he si comfortable with. Where can the man hide? Where can the man hide?
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998)]

If you look at their intentions, examine their motives, and scrutinize what brings them contentment -- how can people hide who they are? How can they hide who they really are?
[tr. Hinton (1998)]

Look at the means a man employs, observe the basis from which he acts, and discover where it is that he feels at ease. Where can he hide? Where can he hide?
[tr. Slingerland (2003)]

Watch what he does, observe the path he follows, examine where he comes to rest -- can any person then remain a mystery? Can any person remain a mystery?
[tr. Watson (2007)]

Observe [shi] what a man does. Look into [guan] what he has done [you]. Consider [cha] where he feels at home. How then can he hide his character?
[tr. Chin (2014)]

You observe the motivation of a person's behavior and words, the approach and directions he follows, and his mental and emotional conditions. What can he hide? What can he hide?
[tr. Li (2020)]

Lewis, C.S. -- Mere Christianity, “Let’s Pretend” (1952)

Dave — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 06:14:45 +0000

We begin to notice, besides our particular sinful acts, our sinfulness; begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are. This may sound rather difficult, so I will try to make it clear from my own case. When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself.

Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.

C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Mere Christianity, “Let’s Pretend” (1952)

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #112 (4 Oct 1746)

Dave — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 02:46:08 +0000

You must look into people, as well as at them. Almost all people are born with all the passions, to a certain degree; but almost every man has one prevailing one, to which the others are subordinate. Search every one for that ruling passion; pry into the recesses of his heart, and observe the different workings of the same passion in different people; and when you have found out the prevailing passion of any man, remember never to trust him where that passion is concerned. Work upon him by it, if you please; but be upon your guard yourself against it, whatever professions he may make you.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #112 (4 Oct 1746)

Brust, Steven -- Iorich (2010)

Dave — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 01:57:50 +0000

We are what we worry about, maybe that’s the lesson of the whole thing.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Iorich (2010)

Brust, Steven -- Orca [Kiera] (1996)

Dave — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 17:53:46 +0000

He’s a good person, you know. In spite of many things, including his own opinion, he’s a good person. Maybe a bit conceited, overbearing, and arrogant, but then, people without a trace of these diseases aren’t usually worth one’s time.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Orca [Kiera] (1996)

Tabor, Mary B. W. -- “Book Notes,” New York Times (14 Jun 1995)

Dave — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 15:12:01 +0000

One sure window into a person’s soul is his reading list.

Mary B. W. Tabor (b. 1964) American journalist [Mary Britt Wellford Tabor]
“Book Notes,” New York Times (14 Jun 1995)

Gandhi, Mohandas -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:27:00 +0000

Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)

Never specifically cited, and attributed with variations in the language. Also attributed as a Chinese or Buddhist proverb.

Gibran, Kahlil -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 14 May 2015 13:04:09 +0000

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.

Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
(Attributed)

Burke, Thomas -- In T.P.’s Weekly (8 Jun 1928)

Dave — Wed, 13 May 2015 12:20:46 +0000

Watch how a man takes praise, and there you have the measure of him.

Thomas Burke (1886–1945) British author
In T.P.’s Weekly (8 Jun 1928)

Home, Henry -- Introduction to the Art of Thinking, ch. 4 (1761)

Dave — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:59:35 +0000

Beauty loses its relish; the Graces, never: After the longest acquaintance, they are no less agreeable than at first.

Henry Home, Lord Kames (1696–1782) Scottish jurist, agriculturalist, philosopher, writer
Introduction to the Art of Thinking, ch. 4 (1761)

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1712-02-06), The Spectator, No. 306

Dave — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 14:09:53 +0000

Good nature will always supply the absence of beauty; but beauty cannot supply the absence of good nature.

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1712-02-06), The Spectator, No. 306

Shakespeare, William -- Henry IV, Part 2, Act 5, sc. 5, l. 60ff (5.5.60-62) (c. 1598)

Dave — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:57:10 +0000

HAL: Presume not that I am the thing I was;
For God doth know — so shall the world perceive —
That I have turn’d away my former self.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry IV, Part 2, Act 5, sc. 5, l. 60ff (5.5.60-62) (c. 1598)

Johnson, Samuel -- Essay (1750-05-05), The Rambler, No. 14

Dave — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:24:34 +0000

A transition from an author’s book to his conversation, is too often like an entrance into a large city, after a distant prospect. Remotely, we see nothing but spires of temples and turrets of palaces, and imagine it the residence of splendour, grandeur and magnificence; but when we have passed the gates, we find it perplexed with narrow passages, disgraced with despicable cottages, embarrassed with obstructions, and clouded with smoke.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-05-05), The Rambler, No. 14

Gaiman, Neil -- “Alan Moore got to be the Beatles. … I was Gerry and the Pacemakers,” Interview, Los Angeles Times (2008-12-02)

Dave — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:31:49 +0000

And I wanted someone who is absolutely and utterly powerful. It’s interesting because at the time, John Byrne had just taken over Superman and had announced that he was making Superman less powerful because he had become too powerful and you couldn’t write interesting stories about people that were too powerful. That started me thinking, “Well, no, actually you can, because what makes a person interesting or not interesting isn’t how powerful they are, but who they are.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
“Alan Moore got to be the Beatles. … I was Gerry and the Pacemakers,” Interview, Los Angeles Times (2008-12-02)

On creating Morpheus, the Sandman.

Dixon, Norman F. -- On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Part 2, ch. 17 “Socialization and the Anal Character” (1976)

Dave — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:13:22 +0000

In other words, those very characteristics which are demanded by war — the ability to tolerate uncertainty, spontaneity of thought and action, having a mind open to the receipt of novel, and perhaps threatening, information — are the antitheses of those possessed by people attracted to the controls, and orderliness, of militarism. Here is the germ of a terrible paradox. Those very people who, because they have adopted attack rather than submission or flight as their preferred psychological defence against threat, are in theory the best suited to warring behaviour, may be the very ones least well equipped for other components of successful fighting.

Norman F. Dixon (1922–2013) British cognitive psychologist, author, military engineer
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Part 2, ch. 17 “Socialization and the Anal Character” (1976)

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 164ff (5.2.164) (1599)

Dave — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:55:14 +0000

HENRY: A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 164ff (5.2.164) (1599)

Quoted by Walter Mondale as a eulogy for Hubert Humphrey.

Billings, Josh -- Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 157 “Affurisms: Hot Korn” (1874)

Dave — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:44:48 +0000

To be thoroughly good-natured, and yet avoid being imposed upon, shows great strength ov character.

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 157 “Affurisms: Hot Korn” (1874)

Smith, Sydney -- Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by His Daughter, Lady Holland, Vol. 1, ch. 11 (1855)

Dave — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:10:31 +0000

He was a one-book man. Some men have only one book in them; others, a library.

Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by His Daughter, Lady Holland, Vol. 1, ch. 11 (1855)

Bronte, Emily -- Wuthering Heights, ch. 7 [Nelly to Heathcliff] (1847)

Dave — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:59:39 +0000

‘A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad,’ I continued, ‘if you were a regular black; and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse than ugly.’

Emily Brontë (1818–1848) British novelist, poet [pseud. Ellis Bell]
Wuthering Heights, ch. 7 [Nelly to Heathcliff] (1847)

Full text.

Ericsson, Graham -- Journal (2005-10-17)

Dave — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 18:25:20 +0000

You may autopsy a body all day long, but you’ll never learn what sort of jokes he liked.

Graham Ericsson (b. 1961) American technologist, writer, aphorist
Journal (2005-10-17)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Article (1867-01), “The Guardian Angel,” ch. 3 “Antecedents,” Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 19, No. 91

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

It is by no means certain that our individual personality is the single inhabitant of these our corporeal frames […] We all do things both awake and asleep which surprise us. Perhaps we have cotenants in this house we live in.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1867-01), “The Guardian Angel,” ch. 3 “Antecedents,” Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 19, No. 91

Collected in The Guardian Angel, ch. 3 (1867).

Vauvenargues, Luc de -- Reflections and Maxims [Réflexions et maximes], #107 (1746) [tr Stevens (1940)]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

Men’s maxims reveal their characters.

Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–1747) French moralist, essayist, soldier
Reflections and Maxims [Réflexions et maximes], #107 (1746) [tr Stevens (1940)]

Alt. trans.: "The maxims of men reveal their hearts."

Whitman, Walt -- “Song of Myself,” sec. 51, ll. 1324-26, Leaves of Grass, Book 3 (1855)

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

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet
“Song of Myself,” sec. 51, ll. 1324-26, Leaves of Grass, Book 3 (1855)

Washington, Martha -- Letter to Mercy Otis Warren (1789-12-26)

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

Every body and every thing conspire to make me as contented as possible in it; yet I have seen too much of the vanity of human affairs, to expect felicity from the splendid scenes of public life. I am still determined to be cheerful and to be happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learnt, from experience, that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us, in our minds, wheresoever we go.

Martha Washington (1731–1802) American socialite, wife of George Washington, First Lady (1789–1797)
Letter to Mercy Otis Warren (1789-12-26)