WIST Quotations

Horace -- Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 10 “Nempe incomposito,” l. 72ff (1.10.72-73) (35 BC) [tr. Matthews (2002)]

Dave — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:46:15 +0000

Use both ends of the pencil if you hope
to write what gets read twice.

[Saepe stilum vertas, iterum quae digna legi sint
scripturus.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 10 “Nempe incomposito,” l. 72ff (1.10.72-73) (35 BC) [tr. Matthews (2002)]
(Source)

The Romans used a stylus to write on waxed tablets; analogous to a modern pencil with eraser, one end of the stylus was pointy to engrave the letters, the other flat to smooth the wax out for revision.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

For nowe, who lookes to beare the bel, his doyngs he muste cull,
At home with hym, and better adde, then he dyd erste out pull.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

He that would write what should twice reading stand,
Must often be upon the mending hand.
[tr. A. B.; ed. Brome (1666)]

When you design a lasting Piece, be wise,
Amend, Correct, again, again Revise.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

Would you a reader's just esteem engage?
Correct with frequent care the blotted page.
[tr. Francis (1747)]

Spare not erasion, ye that wish your strain,
When once perused, to be perused again.
[tr. Howes (1845)]

You that intend to write what is worthy to be read more than once, blot frequently.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

Ofttimes erase, if you intend to write what may prove worth a second reading.
[tr. Millington (1870)]

Oh yes! believe me, you must draw your pen
Not once nor twice but o'er and o'er again
Through what you've written, if you would entice
The man that reads you once to read you twice.
[tr. Conington (1874)]

Often must you turn your pencil to erase, if you hope to write something worth a second reading.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

You’ll often have to erase if you mean to write something
Worth reading twice.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

Keep reversing your pencil if you'd like to write a piece
worth reading twice.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

For you must often
reverse your stylus and revise, if you wish
to write things worthy of being reread.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

If you hope to deserve a second reading you must often employ
the rubber at the end of your pencil.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

If you want to write what’s worth a second reading,
You must often reverse your stylus, and smooth the wax.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

Fowler, Gene -- Quoted in H. Allen Smith, The Life and Legend of Gene Fowler, ch. 27 (1977)

Dave — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 15:57:45 +0000

A book is never finished, it is abandoned.

Gene Fowler (1890–1960) American journalist, author, and dramatist. [b. Eugene Devlan]
Quoted in H. Allen Smith, The Life and Legend of Gene Fowler, ch. 27 (1977)
(Source)

Fowler was speaking about publisher deadlines. Others have used similar phrases regarding the creative process as a whole. See Valéry and Abram.

Thayer, Nancy -- Morning, ch. 11 (1989)

Dave — Sat, 31 Dec 2022 22:02:37 +0000

It is never too late — in fiction or in life — to revise.

Nancy Thayer (b. 1943) American novelist
Morning, ch. 11 (1989)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine

Dave — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:19:21 +0000

From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened. Then again, every major change in policy demands a corresponding change of doctrine and a revelation of prominent historical figures.
This kind of thing happens everywhere, but is clearly likelier to lead to outright falsification in societies where only one opinion is permissible at any given moment. Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine
(Source)

Ciardi, John -- In Vince Clemente, “‘A Man Is What He Does With His Attention’: A Conversation with John Ciardi,” Poesis, Vol. 7 #2 (1986)

Dave — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:43:28 +0000

To be a writer is to accept failure as a profession — which of us is Dante or Shakespeare? — and could they return, wouldn’t they fall at once to revising, knowing they could make the work better? In our own dwarfed way, we are trying for something like perfection, knowing it is unachievable (except of course that trying and failing is a better way of living than not trying).

John Ciardi (1916–1986) American poet, writer, critic
In Vince Clemente, “‘A Man Is What He Does With His Attention’: A Conversation with John Ciardi,” Poesis, Vol. 7 #2 (1986)
(Source)

Toffler, Alvin -- (Paraphrase)

Dave — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 22:49:07 +0000

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those that cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Alvin Toffler (1928–2016) American writer and futurist
(Paraphrase)
(Source)

Sometimes given as "The illiterate of the future ..." This ubiquitous (mis)quotation of Toffler is a conflation of two sentences in ch. 18 of Toffler's Future Shock (1970).

On p. 414, Toffler writes, "By instructing students how to learn, unlearn and relearn, a powerful new dimension can be added to education."
In the next paragraph, he quotes psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy: "Tomorrow's illiterate will not be the man who can't read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn."

Crichton, Michael -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 23:36:35 +0000

Novels aren’t written, they’re rewritten. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.

Michael Crichton (1942–2008) American author, producer, director, and screenwriter
(Attributed)

Crichton was quoted a number of times on the adage, which he in turn claimed was in more general use. However, he seems to have been key in popularizing it. See here for more discussion and specific citations.

Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas -- The Art of Poetry [L’Art Poétique], Canto 1, l. 171 (1674)

Dave — Wed, 11 May 2016 13:54:41 +0000

Hasten slowly, and without losing heart,
Put your work twenty times upon the anvil.

[Hâtez-vous lentement ; et, sans perdre courage,
Vingt fois sur le métier remettez votre ouvrage.]

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711) French poet and critic
The Art of Poetry [L’Art Poétique], Canto 1, l. 171 (1674)

~Other -- Pete Murphy

Dave — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 17:02:40 +0000

Rewriting is like scrubbing the basement floor with a toothbrush.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Pete Murphy

Pascal, Blaise -- Lettres provinciales, #16 (1657)

Dave — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:52:52 +0000

I have only made this [letter] longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

[Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.]

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French scientist and philosopher
Lettres provinciales, #16 (1657)

Alt. trans.: "The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter." Sometimes attributed to Ben Franklin or Mark Twain. For more information see here.

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 12, ch. 2 / sec. 5 (12.2/12.5) (43-03 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2012)]

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

All men make mistakes; but it is fools who persist in them.

[Cuiusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 12, ch. 2 / sec. 5 (12.2/12.5) (43-03 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2012)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Every man may err, but no man who is not a fool may persist in error.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]

Any man is liable to a mistake; but no one but a downright fool will persist in error.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]

Every man is liable to err; it is the part only of a fool to persevere in error.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]

Any man is liable to err, only a fool persists in error.
[ed. Guterman (1966)]

Of any man at all it is to err, to persist in error is of none except unthinking.
[tr. Wiseman]

Valéry, Paul -- “Au sujet du ‘Cimetière marin,'” La Nouvelle Revue Française (Mar 1933)

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

In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished — a word that for them has no sense — but abandoned; and this abandonment, whether to the flames or to the public (and which is the result of weariness or an obligation to deliver) is a kind of an accident to them, like the breaking off of a reflection, which fatigue, irritation, or something similar has made worthless.

[Aux yeux de ces amateurs d’inquiétude et de perfection, un ouvrage n’est jamais achevé, – mot qui pour eux n’a aucun sens, – mais abandonné ; et cet abandon, qui le livre aux flammes ou au public (et qu’il soit l’effet de la lassitude ou de l’obligation de livrer) est une sorte d’accident, comparable à la rupture d’une réflexion, que la fatigue, le fâcheux ou quelque sensation viennent rendre nulle.]

Paul Valéry (1871–1945) French poet, critic, author, polymath
“Au sujet du ‘Cimetière marin,'” La Nouvelle Revue Française (Mar 1933)
(Source)

Often rendered as: "A poem is never finished, only abandoned."

Alt. trans.: "In the eyes of those who anxiously seek perfection, a work is never truly completed -- a word that for them has no sense -- but abandoned; and this abandonment, of the book to the fire or to the public, whether due to weariness or to a need to deliver it for publication, is a sort of accident, comparable to the letting-go of an idea that has become so tiring or annoying that one has lost all interest in it." [tr. Maggio]

In the same vein, in "Recollections," Valery wrote: "A work is never completed except by some accident such as weariness, satisfaction, the need to deliver, or death: for, in relation to who or what is making it, it can only be one stage in a series of inner transformations."

Also attributed to W. H. Auden, Oscar Wilde, and Jean Cocteau, For more discussion of the origin of this phrase, see here.