WIST Quotations

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 21, Jingo (1988)

Dave — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:11:20 +0000

And Sergeant Colon once again knew a secret about bravery. It was arguably a kind of enhanced cowardice — the knowledge that while death may await you if you advance it will be a picnic compared to the certain living hell that awaits should you retreat.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 21, Jingo (1988)
(Source)

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas -- The Black Swan, Part 2, ch. 13 “Appelles the Painter, or What Do You Do If You Cannot Predict” (2007)

Dave — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:45:59 +0000

Know how to rank beliefs not according to their plausibility but by the harm they may cause.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 2, ch. 13 “Appelles the Painter, or What Do You Do If You Cannot Predict” (2007)
(Source)

Peters, Ellis -- Cadfael Chronicles No. 21, Brother Cadfael’s Penance, ch. 16 (1994)

Dave — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:07:48 +0000

You do what you must do, and pay for it. So in the end all things are simple.

Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Cadfael Chronicles No. 21, Brother Cadfael’s Penance, ch. 16 (1994)
(Source)

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas -- Fooled by Randomness, Part 1, ch. 2 (2001)

Dave — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 18:01:27 +0000

Unlike a well-defined, precise game like Russian roulette, where the risks are visible to anyone capable of multiplying and dividing by six, one does not observe the barrel of reality.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
Fooled by Randomness, Part 1, ch. 2 (2001)
(Source)

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1987-12-23)

Dave — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 01:39:04 +0000

CALVIN: Well. I’ve decided I do believe in Santa Claus, no matter how preposterous he sounds.

HOBBES: What convinced you?

CALVIN: A simple risk analysis. I want presents. Lots of presents. Why risk not getting them over a matter of belief? Heck, I’ll believe anything they want.

HOBBES: How cynically enterprising of you.

CALVIN: It’s the spirit of Christmas.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1987-12-23)
(Source)

Peter, Lawrence J. -- Peter’s Quotations (1977)

Dave — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:05:39 +0000

A pessimist is a man who looks both ways before crossing a one-way street.

Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations (1977)

Shakespeare, William -- Hamlet, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 84ff (3.1.84-90) (c. 1600)

Dave — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:37:45 +0000

HAMLET:Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 84ff (3.1.84-90) (c. 1600)
(Source)

"Fardels" = "burdens"

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Hobbit, ch. 12 “Inside Information” (1937)

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

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Hobbit, ch. 12 “Inside Information” (1937)
(Source)