WIST Quotations

Rogers, Will -- Radio broadcast (1935-04-07)

Dave — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 22:56:03 +0000

Well, we cuss the lawmakers. But I notice we’re always perfectly willin’ to share in any of the sums of money that they might distribute.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Radio broadcast (1935-04-07)
(Source)

White, Theodore H. -- In Search of History: A Personal Adventure, Part 3, ch. 7 (1978)

Dave — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 21:43:50 +0000

I learned that speed and simplicity in large affairs are most essential; that severity in preserving an idea is vital; that in a democracy, the public must be informed; and that good will without competence and competence without good will, are both equivalent formulas for political disaster.

Theodore H. White (1915-1986) American political journalist, historian, author
In Search of History: A Personal Adventure, Part 3, ch. 7 (1978)
(Source)

On the factors for the success of the Marshall Plan in Europe.

Whipple, Edwin Percy -- “Character” (1857), Character and Characteristic Men (1866)

Dave — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 23:41:21 +0000

One great secret of the art of politics all over the world is never to push evil or beneficial measures to that point where resistance commences on the part of the governed.

Edwin Percy Whipple 1819-1886) American essayist and critic
“Character” (1857), Character and Characteristic Men (1866)
(Source)

Stross, Charles -- The Nightmare Stacks, ch. 9 (2016)

Dave — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 00:33:10 +0000

Somehow he has internalized the ur-cultural narrative: you grow up, go to university, get a job, meet Ms. Right, get married, settle down, have kids, grow old together … it’s like some sort of checklist. Or maybe a list of epic quests you’ve got to complete while level-grinding in a game you’re not allowed to quit, with no respawns and no cheat codes.

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
The Nightmare Stacks, ch. 9 (2016)
(Source)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 18 “Du Siècle [On the Age],” ¶ 21 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983), 1813 entry]

Dave — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 17:10:48 +0000

In political institutions, almost everything we call an abuse was once a remedy.

[Presque tout ce que nous appelons un abus fut un remède dans les institutions politiques.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 18 “Du Siècle [On the Age],” ¶ 21 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983), 1813 entry]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translation:

In political institutions nearly everything that we now call an abuse, was once a remedy.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 17, ¶ 8]

Hoover, Herbert -- In the New York Tribune (29 Apr 1920)

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

Ours is a practical people, to whom ideals furnish the theory of political action, upon which they want not only firm assurance, but also effective practice. They want programmes, but they want action to flow from them. They want constructive common sense. They want the development of the common will, not the views of a single individual. They are beginning to realize that words without action are the assassins of idealism.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
In the New York Tribune (29 Apr 1920)

On the 1920 Presidential campaign.