WIST Quotations

Carlin, George -- Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes [Part 2]”

Dave — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 17:02:23 +0000

I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed.

George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes [Part 2]”
(Source)

(Source (Audio))

Austen, Jane -- Mansfield Park, ch. 6 [Fanny Price] (1814)

Dave — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 17:15:15 +0000

Of various admirals I could tell you a great deal: of them and their flags, and the gradation of their pay, and their bickerings and jealousies. But, in general, I can assure you that they are all passed over, and all very ill used. Certainly, my home at my uncle’s brought me acquainted with a circle of admirals. Of Rears and Vices I saw enough. Now, do not be suspecting me of a pun, I entreat.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Mansfield Park, ch. 6 [Fanny Price] (1814)
(Source)

Wotton, Henry -- Reliquiae Wottonainae (1651)

Dave — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 13:00:04 +0000

An Ambassador is an honest man, sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.

[Legatus est vir bonus, peregrè missus ad mentiendum Reipublicae causâ.]

Henry Wotton (1568-1639) English author, diplomat, politician
Reliquiae Wottonainae (1651)
(Source)

Wotton wrote in an apology to Velserus in 1612, that during his travel through Augsburg in 1604, "This merry definition of an ambassador I had chanced to set down at my friend's, Mr. Christopher Fleckamore, in his Album". It seems to have been intended as a pun when translated to English. Sometimes translated as "An ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country."

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Article (1857-11), “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:56:16 +0000

A pun does not commonly justify a blow in return. But if a blow were given for such cause, and death ensued, the jury would be judges both of the facts and of the pun, and might, if the latter were of an aggravated character, return a verdict of justifiable homicide.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1857-11), “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)

Collected in The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch. 1 (1858)

Zelazny, Roger -- Trumps of Doom, ch. 9 (1985)

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

As I was finishing, I heard a crashing noise. A horned and tusked purple thing went racing along the ridge to my right pursued by a hairless orange-skinned creature with long claws and a forked tail. Both were wailing in different keys.
I nodded. It was just one damned thing after another.

Roger Zelazny (1937-1995) American writer
Trumps of Doom, ch. 9 (1985)
(Source)

See Hubbard.