WIST Quotations

Rothfuss, Patrick -- The Name of the Wind, ch. 8 (2007)

Dave — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:55:48 +0000

Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite.

Patrick Rothfuss (b. 1973) American author
The Name of the Wind, ch. 8 (2007)
(Source)

Molnar, Ferenc -- Quoted in George Jean Nathan, Intimate Notebooks (1932)

Dave — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:27:02 +0000

Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of it, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money.

Ferenc Molnár (1878-1952) Hungarian-American author, stage director, dramatist [a.k.a. Franz Molnar]
Quoted in George Jean Nathan, Intimate Notebooks (1932)
(Source)

Common form of a quote often misattributed to Molière. It original version actually appears to have originated with Molnar, who, when asked how he regarded his writing, answered (according to Nathan):

Like a whore. First, I did it for my own pleasure. Then I did it for the pleasure of my friends. And now -- I do it for money.

There are many variants by different creators who have referenced the quip, sometimes causing it to be attributed to them instead. More discussion on this quotation's origins and variations: Quote Origin: I Did It For My Own Pleasure. Then I Did It For My Friends. Now I Do It For Money – Quote Investigator®.

Beaverbrook (Lord) -- “As O. O. McIntyre Sees It,” syndicated column (2 Jan 1937)

Dave — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:40:12 +0000

Someone sends me a clipping from Columnist Lyons with this honey: “They are telling this of Lord Beaverbrook and a visiting Yankee actress. In a game of hypothetical questions, Beaverbrook asked the lady: ‘Would you live with a stranger if he paid you one million pounds?’ She said she would. ‘And if be paid you five pounds?’ The irate lady fumed: ‘Five pounds. What do you think I am?’ Beaverbrook replied: ‘We’ve already established that. Now we are trying to determine the degree.'”

Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook (1879-1964) Anglo-Canadian business tycoon, publisher, politician, writer
“As O. O. McIntyre Sees It,” syndicated column (2 Jan 1937)

This anecdote has been attributed to a number of people, including Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw, usually in a bawdier form, e.g.:

SHAW: [To a woman seated by him at a dinner party.] Madam, if I gave you a million pounds, would you sleep with me?
WOMAN: I think I would.
SHAW: Would you do it for five?
WOMAN: Sir, what kind of woman do you think I am?
SHAW: I thought we had established that, and were merely haggling over the price.

The above, attributing the exchange to Lord Beaverbrook, is the earliest version found. See here and here for more discussion and research into its origins.