WIST Quotations

Austen, Jane -- Pride and Prejudice, ch. 42 (1813)

Dave — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 19:00:00 +0000

Where other powers of entertainment are wanting, the true philosopher will derive benefit from such as are given.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Pride and Prejudice, ch. 42 (1813)
(Source)

Euripides -- Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 287 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [Morgan (1718)]

Dave — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:25:48 +0000

Let not these things thy least concern engage;
For though thou fret, they will not mind thy rage.
Him only good and happy we may call
Who rightly useth what doth him befall.

[τοῖς πράγμασιν γὰρ οὐχὶ θυμοῦσθαι χρεών:
μέλει γὰρ αὐτοῖς οὐδέν: ἀλλ᾽ οὑντυγχάνων
τὰ πράγματ᾽ ὀρθῶς ἂν τιθῇ, πράσσει καλῶς]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 287 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [Morgan (1718)]
(Source)

Quoted in Plutarch, "De Tranquilitate Animi [On the Contentedness of the Mind]," sec. 4. (467a). Nauck frag. 287, Barnes frag. 132, Musgrave frag. 24.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Nor ought we to be angry at Events;
For they our anger heed not: but the man
Who best to each emergency adapts
His conduct, will assuredly act right.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Events will take their course, it is no good
Our being angry at them; he is happiest
Who wisely turns them to the best account.
[tr. Shilleto (1888), frag. 298]

It does no good to rage at circumstance;
Events will take their course with no regard
For us. but he who makes the best of those
Events he lights upon will not fare ill.
[tr. Helmbold (1939)]

There is no point in getting angry at circumstances. They are uncaring, utterly unconcerned.
But a man who responds to them in the right way, he fares well.
[tr. Stevens (2012)]

One should not get angry with affairs, for they show no concern; but if a man handles affairs correctly as he encounters them, he fares well.
[tr. Collard, Hargreaves, Cropp (1995)]

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 4, Mort (1987)

Dave — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 01:25:05 +0000

History unravels gently, like an old sweater. It has been patched and darned many times, reknitted to suit different people, shoved in a box under the sink of censorship to be cut up for the dusters of propaganda, yet it always — eventually — manages to spring back into its old familiar shape. History has a habit of changing the people who think they are changing it. History always has a few tricks up its frayed sleeve.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 4, Mort (1987)
(Source)

Fields, W. C. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 17:24:41 +0000

When life hands you lemons, make whiskey sours.

W. C. Fields (1880-1946) American entertainer [b. William Claude Dukenfield]
(Attributed)

While attributed to Fields, possibly on a radio show, there is no documentation to indicate he ever actually said it.

More exploration of other references: The Big Apple: “When life gives you lemons, make a whiskey sour. For God’s sake, we’re adults now, people”.

Dempsey, Jack -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 17:00:40 +0000

A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.

William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (1895-1983) American professional boxer ("Kid Blackie," "The Manassa Mauler")
(Attributed)
(Source)

Comment after his fight with Luis Ángel Firpo (14 Sep 1923).

Rickover, Hyman -- Speech (1954-03-16), “Administering a Large Military Development Project,” US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California

Dave — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:48:56 +0000

All men are by nature conservative but conservatism in the military profession is a source of danger to the country. One must be ready to change his line sharply and suddenly, with no concern for the prejudices and memories of what was yesterday. To rest upon formula is a slumber that, prolonged, means death.

Hyman Rickover (1900-1986) Polish-American naval engineer, admiral [b. Chaim Gdala Rykower]
Speech (1954-03-16), “Administering a Large Military Development Project,” US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
(Source)

Santayana, George -- The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, Vol. 4 “Reason in Art,” ch. 9 “Justification of Art” (1905-06)

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

To be interested in the changing seasons is, in this middling zone, a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.

George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, Vol. 4 “Reason in Art,” ch. 9 “Justification of Art” (1905-06)

Full text.