WIST Quotations

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-06 (1871 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:09:21 +0000

Whenever a minister haz preached a sermon that pleazes the whole congregashun, he probably haz preached one that the Lord wont endorse.

[Whenever a minister has preached a sermon that pleases the whole congregation, he probably haz preached one that the Lord won’t endorse.]

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-06 (1871 ed.)
(Source)

Mencken, H. L. -- A Little Book in C Major, ch. 2, § 31 (1916)

Dave — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 17:01:53 +0000

The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasant to believe.

H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Little Book in C Major, ch. 2, § 31 (1916)
(Source)

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1733 ed.)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:15:16 +0000

Mirth pleaseth some, to others ’tis offence,
Some commend plain conceit, some profound sense;
Some wish a witty Jest, some dislike that,
And most would have themselves they know not what.
Then he that would please all, and himself too,
Takes more in hand than he is like to do.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1733 ed.)
(Source)

Franklin, Benjamin -- “Apology for Printers,” Philadelphia Gazette (1731-06-10)

Dave — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 01:31:49 +0000

It is as unreasonable in any one Man or Set of Men to expect to be pleas’d with every thing that is printed, as to think that nobody ought to be pleas’d but themselves.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
“Apology for Printers,” Philadelphia Gazette (1731-06-10)
(Source)

Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 226 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]

Dave — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 16:29:01 +0000

To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.

[Cuesta a veces muy poco el obligar, y vale mucho.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 226 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Other translations:

Sometime the care of engaging costs but very little, and is worth a great deal.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

To be obliging usually costs but little; yet it is worth much.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

Pleasing others costs little and is worth much.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

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

Dave — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 15:07:22 +0000

Please all, and you will please none.

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

Another translation: "By endeavoring to please everybody he had pleased nobody." [tr. James (1848), "The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass"]

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #214 (18 Jan 1750)

Dave — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:23:46 +0000

You will find that he takes care never to say or do anything, that can be construed into a slight, or a negligence; or that can, in any degree, mortify people’s vanity and self-love; on the contrary, you will perceive that he makes people pleased with him by making them first pleased with themselves: he shows respect, regard, esteem and attention, where they are severally proper: he sows them with care, and he reaps them in plenty.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #214 (18 Jan 1750)
(Source)

On a proper role model to imitate.

Churchill, Charles -- Gotham, 2.1.8 (1764)

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 16:12:57 +0000

If you mean to profit, learn to please.

Charles Churchill (1732–1764) English poet and satirist
Gotham, 2.1.8 (1764)

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #129 (16 Oct 1747)

Dave — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 12:02:03 +0000

Do as you would be done by, is the surest method that I know of pleasing. Observe carefully what pleases you in others, and probably the same thing in you will please others.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #129 (16 Oct 1747)
(Source)

A common theme in Chesterfield's advice, e.g.:

Letter #144 (9 Mar 1748):

Observe carefully, then, what displeases or pleases you in others, and be persuaded, that, in general, the same things will please or displease them in you.

Letter #229 (9 Jul 1750):

Pleasure is necessarily reciprocal; no one feels, who does not at the same time give it. To be pleased, one must please. What pleases you in others, will in general please them in you.