WIST Quotations

Adams, John -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:24:26 +0000

There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
(Misattributed)

Actually American writer and historian James Truslow Adams (1878-1949). Variants:

"There are two types of education. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live."
"There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live."

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 32, A Hat Full of Sky [Miss Level] (2004)

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 13:15:09 +0000

There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 32, A Hat Full of Sky [Miss Level] (2004)
(Source)

~Other -- Murphy’s Law for Grunts

Dave — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 13:08:32 +0000

If it’s stupid but works, it ain’t stupid.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Murphy’s Law for Grunts

In Paul Dixon, "Getting a Handle on Life's Slippery Truths," San Francisco Chronicle (24 Dec 1992)

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Quoted in Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen, “How the President Works,” Harper’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 173 (1936-06)

Dave — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:44:53 +0000

To accomplish almost anything worthwhile, it is necessary to compromise between the ideal and the practical.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Quoted in Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen, “How the President Works,” Harper’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 173 (1936-06)
(Source)

Lowell, James Russell -- “Abraham Lincoln, 1864-1865” (1869)

Dave — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:49:02 +0000

Doubtless he had an ideal, but it was the ideal of a practical statesman, — to aim at the best, and to take the next best, if he is lucky enough to get even that.

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) American diplomat, essayist, poet
“Abraham Lincoln, 1864-1865” (1869)
(Source)

Printed in The North American Review, #222 (Jan 1869) under the title "Before and After." Sometimes given as "The idea of a practical statesman is to aim ...."