WIST Quotations

Hugo, Victor -- Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 5 “Dark Hunt, Mute Mutts,” ch. 5 (2.5.5) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]

Dave — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 19:57:26 +0000

It was a characteristic of Jean Valjean that he might have been said to carry two bags: in one he kept his saintly thoughts, in the other the formidable talents of a convict. He dug into one or the other, depending on circumstances.

[Jean Valjean avait cela de particulier qu’on pouvait dire qu’il portait deux besaces; dans l’une il avait les pensées d’un saint, dans l’autre les redoutables talents d’un forçat. Il fouillait dans l’une ou dans l’autre, selon l’occasion.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 5 “Dark Hunt, Mute Mutts,” ch. 5 (2.5.5) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Jean Valjean had this peculiarity, that he might be said to carry two knapsacks; in one he had the thoughts of a saint, in the other the formidable talents of a convict. He helped himself from one or the other as occasion required.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

Jean Valjean had one peculiarity, that he might be said to carry two wallets: in one he had the thoughts of a saint; in the other the formidable talents of a convict, and he felt in one or the other as opportunity offered.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

Jean Valjean had this peculiarity, that he carried, as one might say, two beggar's pouches: in one he kept his saintly thoughts; in the other the redoubtable talents of a convict. He rummaged in the one or the other, according to circumstances.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

Jean Valjean had the singularity that he might be said to be doubly endowed, on the one side with the aspirations of a saint, on the other with the formidable talents of a criminal. He could draw on either as the case required.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

Jean Valjean had this trait, that he might be said to carry two knapsacks -- in one he had the thoughts of a saint, in the other the impressive talents of a convict. He helped himself from one or the other as occasion required.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

Ford, Henry -- My Life and Work, ch. 11 “Money and Goods” (1922) [with Samuel Crowther]

Dave — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 21:00:08 +0000

Money is only a tool in business. It is just a part of the machinery. You might as well borrow 100,000 lathes as $100,000 if the trouble is inside your business. More lathes will not cure it; neither will more money. Only heavier doses of brains and thought and wise courage can cure. A business that misuses what it has will continue to misuse what it can get.

Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist
My Life and Work, ch. 11 “Money and Goods” (1922) [with Samuel Crowther]
(Source)

Diamond, Jared -- Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Part 2, ch. 2 (2005)

Dave — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 17:23:38 +0000

The parallels between Easter Island and the whole modern world are chillingly obvious. Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter’s dozen clans. Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, nor to which they could turn for help, nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future.

Jared Diamond (b. 1937) American geographer, historian, ornithologist, author
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Part 2, ch. 2 (2005)
(Source)

This is the actual full text from Diamond's book. It is almost universally paraphrased (including the bracketed inclusion) as:

The metaphor is so obvious. Easter Island isolated in the Pacific Ocean -- once the island got into trouble, there was no way they could get free. There was no other people from whom they could get help. In the same way that we on Planet Earth, if we ruin our own [world], we won't be able to get help.

I speculate that this pared-down phrasing was used by Diamond during a speech or seminar about the subject, or an interview about the book, and was then mistakenly identified (and copied) as a quote from the book. For example, at the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meetings, Long Beach, California (2010), for example, Diamond is quoted with this near match:

The metaphor is so obvious. Easter Island is isolated in the Pacific Ocean; once the Easter Islanders got into trouble, there was nowhere that they could flee. Just as if, today, we on planet Earth mess up our island planet, there is no other galaxy that we’re going to be able to float off to.

Sowell, Thomas -- “Student Loans,” Is Reality Optional? (1993)

Dave — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 22:47:29 +0000

The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.

Thomas Sowell (b. 1930) American economist and political commentator
“Student Loans,” Is Reality Optional? (1993)
(Source)

Gandhi, Mohandas -- Bombay Provincial Cooperative Conference (17 Sep 1917)

Dave — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 17:02:57 +0000

As in law so in war, the longest purse finally wins.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Bombay Provincial Cooperative Conference (17 Sep 1917)

See also Taft, DeFoe.

Taft, William -- “Adequate Machinery for Judicial Business,” Journal of the American Bar Association (Sep 1921)

Dave — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:00:24 +0000

Delay works always for the man with the longest purse.

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) US President (1909-13) and Chief Justice (1921-1930)
“Adequate Machinery for Judicial Business,” Journal of the American Bar Association (Sep 1921)

Tuchman, Barbara -- “The Houses of Research,” Authors Guild Bulletin (Mar 1972)

Dave — Tue, 26 May 2015 12:48:15 +0000

To a historian, libraries are food, shelter, and even muse.

Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989) American historian and author
“The Houses of Research,” Authors Guild Bulletin (Mar 1972)
(Source)

Smith, Adam -- Letter to Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 13:18:27 +0000

Be assured, my young friend, that there is a great deal of ruin in a nation.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) Scottish economist
Letter to Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster

When Sinclair had written him, after the Battle of Saratoga (Oct 1777), "If we go on at this rate, the nation must be ruined." In The Correspondence of Sir John Sinclair, Bt (1831).

Welles, Orson -- Comment to Henry Jaglom

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 14:08:29 +0000

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.

Orson Welles (1915-1985) American writer, director, actor
Comment to Henry Jaglom

Quoted by Jaglom in his essay "The Independent Filmmaker" in Jason E. Quire, ed. The Movie Business Book (1992). See here for more information. Sometimes paraphrased in reverse ("The absence of limitations is the enemy of art").

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Book 3. Gospel of Luke 12:48 (Luke 12:48) (Jesus) [NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Dave — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:16:11 +0000

From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

[παντὶ δὲ ᾧ ἐδόθη πολύ, πολὺ ζητηθήσεται παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ᾧ παρέθεντο πολύ, περισσότερον αἰτήσουσιν αὐτόν.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 3. Gospel of Luke 12:48 (Luke 12:48) (Jesus) [NRSV (2021 ed.)]
(Source)

No Synoptic parallels.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
[KJV (1611)]

When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.
[JB (1966)]

When someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a great deal, of that person even more will be expected.
[NJB (1985)]

Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]

Much will be demanded from everyone who has been given much, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.
[CEB (2011)]

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
[NIV (2011 ed.)]

Euripides -- Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 864ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]

Dave — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:59:10 +0000

HECUBA: Then no man on earth is truly free,
All are slaves of money or necessity.
Public opinion or fear of prosecution
forces each one, against his conscience,
to conform.

ἙΚΆΒΗ:[φεῦ.
οὐκ ἔστι θνητῶν ὅστις ἔστ’ ἐλεύθερος·
ἢ χρημάτων γὰρ δοῦλός ἐστιν ἢ τύχης
ἢ πλῆθος αὐτὸν πόλεος ἢ νόμων γραφαὶ
εἴργουσι χρῆσθαι μὴ κατὰ γνώμην τρόποις.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 864ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]
(Source)

When Agamemnon claims he cannot help her get revenge, as much as he'd like to if he were free to assist, because he has to pay attention to the sentiments of the Greek army.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Alas! there's no man free: for some are slaves
To gold, to fortune others, and the rest,
The multitude or written laws restrain
From acting as their better judgement dictates.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Alas! no mortal is there who is free. For either he is the slave of money or of fortune; or the populace of the city or the dictates of the law constrain him to adopt manners not accordant with his natural inclinations.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]

Vain is the boast of liberty in man;
A slave to fortune, or a slave to wealth,
Or by the people or the laws restrain’d,
He dares not act the dictates of his will
[ed. Ramage (1864)]

Ah, among mortals is there no man free!
To lucre or to fortune is he slave:
The city's rabble or the laws' impeachment
Constrains him into paths his soul abhors.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

Ah! there is not in the world a single man free; for he is a slave either to money or to fortune, or else the people in their thousands or the fear of public prosecution prevents him from following the dictates of his heart.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]

Show me the mortal man who's really free.
He's either a slave to money or to chance.
Or the pressure of the mob or legal code
curbs him from acting as his will dictates.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]

Ah! But there’s no such thing as a free man! All men are slaves, Agamemnon! Slaves to money, to Fate, to the cries of the masses, to the written laws! They all stop him from doing what he wants.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]

Then no one is free
in this world. He’s chained to money, or to luck, or to majority
opinion, or to law. Any way you look at it,
he’s still a slave.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]

Alas!
there is not in the world a single man who is free;
for he is a slave either to money or to fortune,
or else the mob, or fear of law, prevents him
from following the dictates of his heart.
[ed. Yeroulanos (2016)]

There is no mortal who is free. Either he is a slave to money or fortune, or the city’s mob or its laws make him live otherwise than he would wish.
[tr. @sentantiq (2016)]

Ha!
No one who is mortal is free --
We are either the slave of money or chance;
Or the majority of people or the city’s laws
Keep us from living by our own judgment.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 9 “Outdoors and Indoors” (1913)

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

Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 9 “Outdoors and Indoors” (1913)
(Source)

Variants:

"Do what you can where you are with what you've got."
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Roosevelt in turn labels it as "a bit of homely philosophy, quoted by Squire Bill Widener, of Widener's Valley, Virginia, which sums up one's duty in life," but the quote is usually attributed to Roosevelt.