WIST Quotations

Schiff, Stacy -- “Obama’s Mother Ann Dunham Shaped His Success,” Newsweek (2011-05-01)

Dave — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:20:10 +0000

As is always the case, parenting is an exercise in unintended consequences.

Stacy Schiff (b. 1961) American editor, essayist, biographer
“Obama’s Mother Ann Dunham Shaped His Success,” Newsweek (2011-05-01)
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- Story (1905-12), “Eve’s Diary,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 112, No. 1

Dave — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 12:54:34 +0000

How little a thing can make us happy when we feel that we have earned it!

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Story (1905-12), “Eve’s Diary,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 112, No. 1
(Source)

On Adam's admiration for her (Eve) having properly named the dodo.

Published in June, 1906, as its own (illustrated) book.

Huxley, Aldous -- Essay (1943-01/02), “Religion and Time,” Vedanta and the West Magazine

Dave — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 14:05:53 +0000

Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Essay (1943-01/02), “Religion and Time,” Vedanta and the West Magazine
(Source)

Collected in Christopher Isherwood (ed.), Vedanta for the Western World (1945)

This quotation is sometimes misattributed to Huxley's "Distractions I" essay, from the same source (and collection).

Edison, Thomas Alva -- (Attributed)

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

Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won’t work.

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) American inventor and businessman
(Attributed)
(Source)

When told by an associate, Walter S. Mallory, that it was a shame that several months of work on new battery technology hadn't yielded any results. Recorded in Dyer and Martin, Edison: His Life and Inventions, Vol. 2, ch. 24 (1910) as an anecdote by Mallory.

More discussion about this quotation's origins and variants: I Have Gotten a Lot of Results! I Know Several Thousand Things That Won’t Work – Quote Investigator.