WIST Quotations

O'Malley, Austin -- Keystones of Thought (1914)

Dave — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 14:35:15 +0000

Memory is a crazy woman that hoards colored rags and throws away food.

Austin O'Malley (1858–1932) American ophthalmologist, professor of literature, aphorist
Keystones of Thought (1914)
(Source)

Gershwin, Ira -- “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”, Shall We Dance (1937)

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:10:24 +0000

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The mem’ry of all that —
No, no! They can’t take that away from me!

Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) American lyricist [b. Israel Gershowitz]
“They Can’t Take That Away from Me”, Shall We Dance (1937)
(Source)

Santayana, George -- The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, Vol. 1, “Reason in Common Sense,” ch. 12 (1905-1906)

Dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 16:54:26 +0000

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

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. 1, “Reason in Common Sense,” ch. 12 (1905-1906)
(Source)

Often given as "Those who do not remember the past ...." Quoted at the Auschwitz Holocaust Museum, via Polish, as: "The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again."

Often misattributed to Winston Churchill, who paraphrased it in a Commons speech in 1948: "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it."

Branson, Richard -- Tweet (27 Mar 2014)

Dave — Tue, 03 May 2016 20:33:55 +0000

Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.

Richard Branson (b. 1950) English business magnate, investor, philanthropist
Tweet (27 Mar 2014)
(Source)

Leonardo da Vinci -- Note-books, 1 [tr. McCurdy (1908)]

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 13:59:13 +0000

Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian artist, engineer, scientist, polymath
Note-books, 1 [tr. McCurdy (1908)]