WIST Quotations

Housman, A. E. -- A Shropshire Lad, No. 13 (1896)

Dave — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 21:09:24 +0000

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies,
But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
‘Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

A. E. Housman (1859–1936) English scholar and poet [Alfred Edward Housman]
A Shropshire Lad, No. 13 (1896)

Maurois, Andre -- Conversation, “Sincerity” (1930)

Dave — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 17:46:18 +0000

Sincerity must be used in moderation, even with our most intimate friends. To be too frank is to put into an opinion what may be simply ill temper; it is to risk losing a friend because of a poorly digested roast, a headache, a thunderstorm.

André Maurois (1885–1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
Conversation, “Sincerity” (1930)

Austen, Jane -- Sense and Sensibility, ch. 17 [Edward] (1811)

Dave — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 16:40:28 +0000

I never wish to offend, but I am so foolishly shy, that I often seem negligent, when I am only kept back by my natural awkwardness.

Jane Austen (1775–1817) English author
Sense and Sensibility, ch. 17 [Edward] (1811)

Maugham, W. Somerset -- The Summing Up, ch. 19 (1938)

Dave — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 22:03:42 +0000

Most people have a furious itch to talk about themselves and are restrained only by the disinclination of others to listen. Reserve is an artificial quality that is developed in most of us but as the result.

W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) English novelist and playwright [William Somerset Maugham]
The Summing Up, ch. 19 (1938)