WIST Quotations

Carlyle, Thomas -- Lecture (1840-05-19), “The Hero as Man of Letters,” Home House, Portman Square, London

Dave — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 23:32:04 +0000

In Books lies the soul of the whole Past Time; the articulate audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream. Mighty fleets and armies, harbors and arsenals, vast cities, high-domed, many-engined, — they are precious, great: but what do they become? Agamemnon, the many Agamemnons, Pericleses, and their Greece; all is gone now to some ruined fragments, dumb mournful wrecks and blocks: but the Books of Greece! There Greece, to every thinker, still very literally lives: can be called up again into life. No magic Rune is stranger than a Book. All that Mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of Books.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-19), “The Hero as Man of Letters,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)

The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 5 (1841).

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1868), “An Autumn Reverie,” st. 4-5, Shells (1873)

Dave — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:37:23 +0000

And yet I would not be a child again.
For surely as the night succeeds the day,
So surely will their mirth turn into tears.
And I would not return to happy hours,
If I must live again these weary years.
I would walk on, and leave it all behind:
will walk on; and when my feet grow sore,
The boatman waits — his sails are all unfurled —
He waits to row me to a fairer shore.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1868), “An Autumn Reverie,” st. 4-5, Shells (1873)
(Source)

Herold, Don -- Essay (1931-12), “I’d Pick More Daisies,” College Humor magazine, Vol. 10, No. 96

Dave — Fri, 29 May 2020 21:05:45 +0000

If I had my life to live over, I would try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I know of very few things I would take seriously. I would be crazier. I would be less hygienic. I would take more chances. I would take more trips. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would burn up more gasoline. I would eat more ice cream and less bran. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

Don Herold (1889-1966) American humorist, cartoonist, author
Essay (1931-12), “I’d Pick More Daisies,” College Humor magazine, Vol. 10, No. 96
(Source)

Also attributed to Nadine Stair, and a Brother Jerome, among others. This essay has gone through a variety of revisions and homages, both by Herold and by a variety of borrowers. The earliest reference I could find was that cited here, as quoted in The Journal of Health and Physical Education (1935-05) [linked above].

The usual citation is to a revised version of the essay by Herold in "If I Had My Life Over -- I'd Pick More Daisies," Reader's Digest (1953-10) (and reprinted in Reader's Digest's How to Live with Life (1965).

Benjamin Rossen, "Who Would Pick More Daisies; A study of Plagiarism and Foolery on the Internet" (2000) wrote extensively on the variations and misappropriations of the poem (though he did not know of the 1935 version). See also: Essay Origin: I Would Pick More Daisies – Quote Investigator®, which includes a nice thank-you to WIST regarding this quotation. The page includes further research into and examples of the various versions of this quote, but concurs on the December 1921 original date. Interestingly, it is likely the actual publication date (not the date on the magazine) was in October, as at least one newspaper article dated 3 November 1921 references it.