WIST Quotations

L'Engle, Madeleine -- Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Dave — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 21:50:53 +0000

Someone sent me a clipping from a daily newspaper containing a list of ten books to be removed from library shelves because of their pornographic content. On the list was one of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books. Also on the list was my book A Wind in the Door. I am totally baffled and frankly fascinated. This is the first time C. S. Lewis and I have been listed together as writers of pornography. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)

Moffat, Steven -- Coupling, 01×04 “Inferno” (2000-06-02)

Dave — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 23:33:19 +0000

JANE: So, Steve, Susan tells us you’ve been using pornography. (Everyone at the dinner party leans in.)

STEVE: (after a beat, scoffs) “Using pornography”? What a strange expression, Jane. Um, I enjoy erotica, if that’s what you mean. But then, doesn’t everyone? I certainly don’t “use pornography,” whatever that means. That makes me sound like — some kind of —

SALLY: Wanker?

Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 01×04 “Inferno” (2000-06-02)
(Source)

(Source (Video), 18:26; dialog validated)

Jackson, Holbrook -- The Fear of Books, Part 2, ch. 1 (1932)

Dave — Wed, 31 May 2023 13:56:00 +0000

History proves there is no better advertisement for a book than to condemn it for obscenity. Forbidden fruits have unique flavors, and the bounds of suppression create new limits of desire.

Holbrook Jackson (1874-1948) English journalist, editor, author
The Fear of Books, Part 2, ch. 1 (1932)
(Source)

Klein, Marty -- “You’re Addicted to What?” The Humanist (Jul/Aug 2012)

Dave — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 21:14:23 +0000

Sex addiction and porn addiction crusaders complain that porn is terrible sex education. I agree, just as watching a car chase in an action movie is a terrible way to learn to drive.

Marty Klein (b. 1950) American sex therapist, author, public policy analyst
“You’re Addicted to What?” The Humanist (Jul/Aug 2012)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 9, Eric (1990)

Dave — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 21:41:52 +0000

Just erotic. Nothing kinky. It’s the difference between using a feather and using a chicken.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 9, Eric (1990)
(Source)

Compare to Isabel Allende.

Nash, Ogden -- “Invocation,” New Yorker (Jan 1930)

Dave — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 18:28:28 +0000

Senator Smoot is an institute
Not to be bribed with pelf;
He guards our homes from erotic tomes
By reading them all himself.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“Invocation,” New Yorker (Jan 1930)
(Source)

Nash's poem was about US Senator Reed Smoot (R-Utah) (1862-1941), who had announced an effort in his tariff bill to ban the importation of pornography, leading to headlines of "Smoot Smites Smut." The bill went on to become the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, passed in June 1930.

Allende, Isabel -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 13:50:26 +0000

Erotica is using a feather; pornography is using the whole chicken.

Isabel Allende (b. 1942) Chilean-American writer
(Attributed)

Widely attributed, but without citation. See Pratchett.

Moffat, Steven -- Coupling, 01×04 “Inferno” (2000-06-02)

Dave — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:23:33 +0000

JILL: (about the porn film “Lesbian Spank Inferno”) How could you possibly enjoy a film like that?

STEVE: Oh, because it’s got naked women in it! Look, I like naked women! I’m a bloke! I’m supposed to like them! We’re born like that! We like naked women as soon as we’re pulled out of one. Halfway down the birth canal we’re already enjoying the view. Look, it is the four pillars of the male heterosexual psyche. We like: naked women, stockings, lesbians, and Sean Connery best as James Bond. Because that is what being a boy is. And if you don’t like it, darling, join a film collective. Look, I want to spend the rest of my life with the woman at the end of the table here. But that does not stop me wanting to see several thousand more naked bottoms before I die. Because that’s what being a bloke is. When Man invented fire, he didn’t say “Hey, let’s cook!” He said: “Great! Now we can see naked bottoms in the dark!” As soon as Caxton invented the printing press we were using it to make pictures of — hey! — naked bottoms. We’ve turned the Internet into an enormous international database of naked bottoms! So, you see, the story of male achievement through the ages, feeble though it may have been, has been the story of our struggle to get a better look at your bottoms. Frankly, girls, I’m not so sure how insulted you really ought to be.

Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 01×04 “Inferno” (2000-06-02)
(Source)

(Source (Video), 26:23; dialog validated)

Gaiman, Neil -- Blog entry (2008-12-01), “Why defend freedom of icky speech?”

Dave — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:26:38 +0000

You ask, What makes it worth defending? and the only answer I can give is this: Freedom to write, freedom to read, freedom to own material that you believe is worth defending means you’re going to have to stand up for stuff you don’t believe is worth defending, even stuff you find actively distasteful, because laws are big blunt instruments that do not differentiate between what you like and what you don’t, because prosecutors are humans and bear grudges and fight for re-election, because one person’s obscenity is another person’s art. Because if you don’t stand up for the stuff you don’t like, when they come for the stuff you do like, you’ve already lost.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Blog entry (2008-12-01), “Why defend freedom of icky speech?”
(Source)

Luce, Clare Boothe -- “Problem of Pornography,” McCall’s (Oct 1966)

Dave — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:44:55 +0000

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but, unlike charity, it should end there.

Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) American dramatist, diplomat, politician
“Problem of Pornography,” McCall’s (Oct 1966)

Legman, Gershon -- Love & Death: A Study in Censorship (1949)

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

Murder is a crime. Describing murder is not.
Sex is not a crime. Describing sex is.

Gershon Legman (1917-1999) American writer
Love & Death: A Study in Censorship (1949)