WIST Quotations

Orwell, George -- Essay (1948-06), “‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’,” sec. 5, Partisan Review (1952-09)

Dave — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:29:37 +0000

That was the pattern of school life — a continuous triumph of the strong over the weak. Virtue consisted in winning: it consisted in being bigger, stronger, handsomer, richer, more popular, more elegant, more unscrupulous than other people — in dominating them, bullying them, making them suffer pain, making them look foolish, getting the better of them in every way. Life was hierarchical and whatever happened was right. There were the strong, who deserved to win and always did win, and there were the weak, who deserved to lose and always did lose, everlastingly.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1948-06), “‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’,” sec. 5, Partisan Review (1952-09)

This autobiographical essay was drafted around 1939, revised around 1946, and then completed in May or June of 1948. Collected in Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953), though the full, unredacted version was not published until 2000.

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1988-08-28)

Dave — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 20:11:56 +0000

CALVIN: There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1988-08-28)

Milne, A. A. -- House at Pooh Corner, ch. 10 “An Enchanted Place” (1928)

Dave — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 16:26:53 +0000

He laughed and jumped to his feet. “Come on!”
“Where?” said Pooh.
“Anywhere,” said Christopher Robin.
So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.

A. A. Milne (1882–1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 10 “An Enchanted Place” (1928)