WIST Quotations

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Foresight,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1884-12-13)

Dave — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 23:00:29 +0000

FORESIGHT, n. That peculiar and valuable faculty that enables a politician always to know that his party is going to succeed — as distinguished from Retrospect, which sometimes shows him that it got calamitously beaten.

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Foresight,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1884-12-13)

Not collected in later books.

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Slaughterhouse-Five, ch. 1 (1969)

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 18:37:23 +0000

And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.
So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007) American novelist, journalist
Slaughterhouse-Five, ch. 1 (1969)

Comparing the tale of Lot's wife with his own retrospective look at WW2 and the firebombing of Dresden.

Kempton, Murray -- Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties, ch. 5 (1955)

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 15:37:33 +0000

A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that it has been unimportant in the sum of things.

Murray Kempton (1917–1997) American journalist.
Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties, ch. 5 (1955)

Kierkegaard, Soren -- Journals IV.A.164 (1843)

Dave — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:44:08 +0000

It is perfectly true, as the philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Journals IV.A.164 (1843)

Commonly paraphrased: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

Stevenson, Adlai -- Speech (1952-09-20), “The New South,” Mosque Auditorium, Richmond, Virginia

Dave — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:45:26 +0000

We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.

Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-09-20), “The New South,” Mosque Auditorium, Richmond, Virginia