WIST Quotations

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 6 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:48:09 +0000

Most of us would try to be noble, if we just had a claque we could depend on.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 6 (1963)
(Source)

Moffat, Steven -- Sherlock, 01×01 “A Study in Pink” (2010-07-25)

Dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 19:06:59 +0000

HOLMES: That’s the frailty of genius, John. It needs an audience.

Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Sherlock, 01×01 “A Study in Pink” (2010-07-25)
(Source)

(Source (Video); dialog confirmed)

Hall, John -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 17:54:14 +0000

Politeness comes from within, from the heart: but if the forms of politeness are dispensed with, the spirit and the thing itself soon die away.

John Hall (1829-1898) Irish-American clergyman, academician (b. John Hall Magowan)
(Attributed)
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 1 (1966)

Dave — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 18:53:59 +0000

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 1 (1966)
(Source)

Originally published in Mignon's "The Neurotic's Notebook" column in The Atlantic (supposedly in July 1965, though not found here).

Johnson, Samuel -- Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Milton” (1781)

Dave — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:31:13 +0000

To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Milton” (1781)
(Source)

Also known as Lives of English Poets and Lives of the Poets.

Augustine of Hippo -- Confessions, Book 8, ch. 4 / ¶ 9 (8.4.9) [tr. Sheed (1943)] (c. AD 398)

Dave — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:19:04 +0000

For when many rejoice together, the joy of each one is richer: they warm themselves at each other’s flame.

[Quando enim cum multis gaudetur, et in singulis uberius est gaudium, quia fervefaciunt se et inflammantur ex alterutro.]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
Confessions, Book 8, ch. 4 / ¶ 9 (8.4.9) [tr. Sheed (1943)] (c. AD 398)
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For when many joy together, each also has more exuberant joy for that they are kindled and inflamed one by the other.
[tr. Pusey (1838)]

For when many rejoice together, each also has more exuberant joy; for that they are kindled and inflamed one by the other.
[ed. Shedd (1860)]

For when many rejoice together, the joy of each one is the fuller in that they are incited and inflamed by one another.
[tr. Pilkington (1876)]

For when many rejoice together, in each there is an overflowing joy, for they kindle themselves and are kindled by one another.
[tr. Hutchings (1890)]

For, when joy is shared with many, the joy of each is richer, because they warm one another, catch fire from one another.
[tr. Bigg (1897)]

For when many rejoice together the joy of each one is fuller, in that they warm one another, catch fire from each other.
[tr. Outler (1955)]

For when many men rejoice together, there is a richer joy in each individual, since they enkindle themselves and they inflame one another.
[tr. Ryan (1960)]

When large numbers of people share their joy in common, the happiness of each is greater because each adds fuel to the other’s flame.
[tr. Pine-Coffin (1961)]

For when many people rejoice together, the joy of each individual is all the richer, since each one inflames the other and the warmth spreads throughout them all.
[tr. Warner (1963)]

For when joy is shared with many, joy is fuller in each. They grow ardent and are fired each by the other.
[tr. Blaiklock (1983)]

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 25, The Truth [Lord Vetinari] (2000)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:16:07 +0000

Be careful. People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things … well, new things aren’t what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don’t want to know that man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds … Not news but olds, telling people that what they think they already know is true.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 25, The Truth [Lord Vetinari] (2000)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 83 (3.14.83) (1951)

Dave — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:27:55 +0000

The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new; nor can it keep people persuaded once they have ceased to believe. It penetrates only into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion it articulates and justifies opinions already present in the minds of its recipients. The gifted propagandist brings to a boil ideas and passions already simmering in the minds of his hearers. he echoes their innermost feelings. Where opinion is not coerced, people can be made to believe only in what they already “know.”

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 83 (3.14.83) (1951)
(Source)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 19 “De l’Éducation [On Education],” ¶ 88 (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 18]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

To teach is to learn twice.

[Enseigner, c’est apprendre deux fois.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 19 “De l’Éducation [On Education],” ¶ 88 (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 18]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translation:

To teach is to learn twice over.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 18, ¶ 18]