WIST Quotations

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 7, Pyramids (1989)

Dave — Fri, 08 May 2026 22:53:55 +0000

The role of listeners has never been fully appreciated. However, it is well known that most people don’t listen. They use the time when someone else is speaking to think of what they’re going to say next. True Listeners have always been revered among oral cultures, and prized for their rarity value; bards and poets are ten a cow, but a good Listener is hard to find, or at least hard to find twice.

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 7, Pyramids (1989)
(Source)

Hugo, Victor -- Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 6 “Little Gavroche,” ch. 1 (4.6.1) (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]

Dave — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 22:26:59 +0000

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives, the most unanswerable of retorts — Because.

[Pourquoi ? Parce que. Le plus terrible des motifs et la plus indiscutable des réponses: Parce que.]

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 6 “Little Gavroche,” ch. 1 (4.6.1) (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]
(Source)

On Mme Thenardier hating her sons.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives and the most unanswerable of responses: Because.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

Why? because she did. The most terrible of motives and most indisputable of answers is, Because.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

Why? Because. The most terrible and unanswerable of reasons.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives and the most unanswerable of responses: Because.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

Why? Because. The most terrible of motives, the most indisputable of responses. Because.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]

Aristotle -- Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers [Vitae Philosophorum], Book 5, sec. 11 [tr. Mensch (2018)]

Dave — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 17:22:57 +0000

On hearing that someone had reviled him, he said, “As long as I’m not in his presence, let him flog me as well.”

[ἀκούσας ὑπό τινος λοιδορεῖσθαι, “ἀπόντα με,” ἔφη, “καὶ μαστιγούτω.”]

Aristotle (384–322 BC) Greek philosopher
Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers [Vitae Philosophorum], Book 5, sec. 11 [tr. Mensch (2018)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

Having heard that he was abused by some one, he said, “He may beat me too, if he likes, in my absence.”
[tr. Yonge (1853), sec. 11]

On hearing that someone abused him, he rejoined, "He may even scourge me so it be in my absence."
[tr. Hicks (1925), sec. 18]

After he heard that he was mocked by someone, he said, “Let him insult me when I am absent.”
[tr. @sentantiq (2016)]

Palahniuk, Chuck -- Haunted (2005)

Dave — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 19:26:08 +0000

People in France have a phrase: “Spirit of the Stairway.” In French: Esprit d’Escalier. It means that moment when you find the answer but it’s too late. So you’re at a party and someone insults you. You have to say something. So, under pressure, with everybody watching, you say something lame. But the moment you leave the party …

As you start down the stairway, then — magic. You come up with the perfect thing you should’ve said. The perfect crippling put down.

That’s the Spirit of the Stairway.

The trouble is, even the French don’t have a phrase for the stupid things you actually do say under pressure. Those stupid, desperate things you actually think or do.

Chuck Palahniuk (b. 1962) American novelist and freelance journalist
Haunted (2005)
(Source)

Chesterton, Gilbert Keith -- The Illustrated London News (30 Sep 1933)

Dave — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 15:58:29 +0000

Silence is the unbearable repartee.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) English journalist and writer
The Illustrated London News (30 Sep 1933)

Goldwater, Barry -- (Attributed)

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

I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.

Barry Goldwater (1909–1998) American politician
(Attributed)

When asked what he thought of Jerry Falwell's suggestion that every good Christian should be against Sandra Day O'Connor's nomination to the Supreme Court. John Dean later claimed he was there and that the news media "changed the anatomical reference" from "nuts."