WIST Quotations

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1877-02 (1877 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:36:46 +0000

Life aint mutch more than a farce enny how, but it iz quite necessary that the play should go on, and the farce be well ackted.

[Life ain’t much more than a farce anyhow, but it is quite necessary that the play should go on, and the farce be well-acted.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1877-02 (1877 ed.)
(Source)

See Cicero (44 BC), Shakespeare (1599), Heywood (1612), O'Casey (c. 1940), Brooks (1970), Watterson (1993).

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 2, ch. 13 “Family” (1930)

Dave — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:41:09 +0000

To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual whose day will soon be over, but part of the stream of life flowing on from the first germ to the remote and unknown future.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 2, ch. 13 “Family” (1930)
(Source)

Heywood, Thomas -- Apology for Actors, “The Author to his Booke” (1612)

Dave — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 00:38:42 +0000

The world’s a theatre, the earth a stage,
Which God and Nature do with actors fill.
Kings have their entrance in due equipage,
And some there parts play well, and others ill.

The best no better are (in this theater),
Where every humor’s fitted in his kinde;
This a true subiect acts, and that a traytor,
The first applauded, and the last confin’d;

This plays an honest man, and that a knave,
A gentle person this, and he a clowne,
One man is ragged, and another brave:
All men have parts, and each man acts his own.

Thomas Heywood (1570s-1641) English playwright, actor, author
Apology for Actors, “The Author to his Booke” (1612)
(Source)

See Cicero (44 BC), Shakespeare (1599), Billings (1877), O'Casey (c. 1940), Brooks (1970), Watterson (1993).

Burke, Edmund -- Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

Dave — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 17:35:21 +0000

Those who quit their proper character to assume what does not belong to them are, for the greater part, ignorant both of the character they leave and of the character they assume.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
(Source)

On preachers who mix politics into their sermons.

Smith, Sydney -- Lecture (1804-1806), Moral Philosophy, No. 9 “On the Conduct of the Understanding,” Royal Institution, London

Dave — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 16:49:36 +0000

If you choose to represent the various parts in life by holes upon a table, of different shapes, — some circular, some triangular, some square, some oblong, — and the persons acting these parts by bits of wood of similar shapes, we shall generally find that the triangular person has got into the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, and a square person has squeezed himself into the round hole. The officer and the office, the doer and the thing done, seldom fit so exactly, that we can say they were almost made for each other.

Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Lecture (1804-1806), Moral Philosophy, No. 9 “On the Conduct of the Understanding,” Royal Institution, London
(Source)

This is the origin of of the phrase "a square peg in a round hole."

Shakespeare, William -- All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 2, sc. 3, l. 136ff (2.3.136-137) (1602?)

Dave — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:07:27 +0000

KING: From lowest place when virtuous things proceed,
The place is dignified by the doer’s deed.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 2, sc. 3, l. 136ff (2.3.136-137) (1602?)
(Source)

Zelazny, Roger -- The Blood of Amber, ch. 3 (1986)

Dave — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 16:00:43 +0000

I worked my way back into a stony declivity and settled myself upon a low ledge. I began the troublesome shapeshifting work, which I paced to take me half an hour or so. Changing from something nominally human to something rare and strange — perhaps monstrous to some, perhaps frightening — and then back again is a concept some may find repugnant. They shouldn’t. We all of us do it every day in many different ways, don’t we?

Roger Zelazny (1937-1995) American writer
The Blood of Amber, ch. 3 (1986)
(Source)

Friedan, Betty -- Interview by David Sheff, Playboy (Sep 1992)

Dave — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 14:16:45 +0000

FRIEDAN: There was a masculine mystique, too.

PLAYBOY: What was it?

FRIEDAN: Men had to be supermen: stoic, responsible meal tickets. Dominance is a burden. Most men who are honest will admit that.

Betty Friedan (1921-2006) American writer, feminist, activist
Interview by David Sheff, Playboy (Sep 1992)
(Source)

Reprinted in Janann Sherman, Interviews with Betty Friedan (2002).

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth -- Hyperion, “The Story of Brother Bernardus” (1839)

Dave — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 16:35:57 +0000

In this world a man must either be an anvil or a hammer.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
Hyperion, “The Story of Brother Bernardus” (1839)
(Source)

Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 2, l. 5ff (2.5-6) [Aeneas] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fitzgerald (1981)]

Dave — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 18:37:21 +0000

Heartbreaking things I saw with my own eyes
And was myself a part of.

[Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi
et quorum pars magna fui.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 2, l. 5ff (2.5-6) [Aeneas] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fitzgerald (1981)]
(Source)

Recounting the fall of Troy. (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Whose sad destruction I my self have seen,
And in her losse have no small sharer been.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

All that I saw, and part of which I was.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

The woes I saw with these sad eyne,
The deeds whereof large part was mine
[tr. Conington (1866)]

The afflicting scenes that I myself
Beheld, and a great part of which I was.
[tr. Cranch (1872)]

I myself saw these things in all their horror, and I bore great part in them.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

Which thing myself unhappy did behold,
Yea, and was no small part thereof
[tr. Morris (1900)]

The woes I saw, thrice piteous to behold,
And largely shared.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 1, ll. 6-7]

Which woeful scene I saw,
and bore great part in each event I tell.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

The sights most piteous that I myself saw and whereof I was no small part.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

Sorrowful things I saw myself, wherein
I had my share and more.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

Most piteous events I saw with my own eyes
And played no minor part in.
[tr. Day Lewis (1952)]

I saw these terrible things,
and took great part in them.
[tr. Mantinband (1964)]

For I myself
saw these sad things; I took large part in them.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971)]

And all the horrors I have seen, and in which I played a large part.
[tr. West (1990)]

Miseries I saw myself,
and in which I played a great part.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

I saw these horrors myself
And played no small part in them.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]

What horrors I saw,
a tragedy where I played a leading role myself.
[tr. Fagles (2006)]

I saw the piteous events myself -- I played no minor part.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

All of which misery I saw,
and a great part of which I was.

Macaulay, Rose -- “Some Problems of a Woman’s Life,” Good Housekeeping (Aug 1923)

Dave — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:23:08 +0000

A tradition has now for long been established that cooking and cleaning are woman’s work. As these occupations are among the most tiresome which humanity has to endure, this tradition is very unfortunate for women. But there it is; and the problem is how to get what is needful done as rapidly as possible, so that one can go and do something else, more lucrative, interesting, or amusing.
The general rule is that there must be something to eat at stated intervals, and the house or the flat must be about as clean as the houses and flats of one’s acquaintances. It sounds simple, but actually to secure both these results will often be found to take the entire time. All the time that there is. And that is so tragically little. None left over for reading, writing, walking, sitting in woods, playing games, making love, merely existing without effort. And ever at your back you hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near … and so the grave yawns, and at the end you will be able to say, not “I have warmed both hands before the fire of life,” but “I have kept house.”
The only solution of this problem which I can suggest — and I almost hesitate to do in these pages — is, Do not keep house. Let the house, or flat, go unkept. Let it go to the devil, and see what happens when it has gone there. At the worst, a house unkempt cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.

Rose Macaulay (1881-1958) English writer
“Some Problems of a Woman’s Life,” Good Housekeeping (Aug 1923)
(Source)

DeGeneres, Ellen -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 24 May 2021 14:53:07 +0000

Asking who’s the “man” and who’s the “woman” in a same-sex relationship is like asking which chopstick is the fork.

Ellen DeGeneres (b. 1958) American comedian, actress, writer, producer
(Attributed)

Frequently attributed to DeGeneres, but no specific citation found. The phrase may have pre-existed and been popularized by her.

Hitchens, Christopher -- The Portable Atheist, Introduction (2007)

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 17:39:33 +0000

Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are god.

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) English intellectual, polemicist, socio-political critic
The Portable Atheist, Introduction (2007)
(Source)

Fromm, Erich -- The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, ch. 10 (1973)

Dave — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 15:39:59 +0000

Man is the only animal who does not feel at home in nature, who can feel evicted from paradise, the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem that he has to solve and from which he cannot escape.

Erich Fromm (1900-1980) American psychoanalyst and social philosopher
The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, ch. 10 (1973)
(Source)

Sometimes elided, "Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem he has to solve."

Carriger, Gail -- Imprudence (2016)

Dave — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 15:27:20 +0000

Prim did seem in some distress. Poor thing, she genuinely felt that she should do what was expected of her. What a horrible way to go through life.

Gail Carriger (b. 1976) American archaeologist, author [pen name of Tofa Borregaard]
Imprudence (2016)
(Source)

Schopenhauer, Arthur -- Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 26 “Psychological Observations [Psychologische Bemerkungen],” § 315 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]

Dave — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 13:35:15 +0000

No one shows himself as he is, but wears his mask and plays his part. Indeed, the whole of our social arrangements may be likened to a perpetual comedy; and this is why a man who is worth anything finds society so insipid, while a blockhead is quite at home in it.

[Allerdings zeigt Keiner sich wie er ist, sondern Jeder trägt eine Maske und spielt eine Rolle. — Ueber haupt ist das ganze gesellschaftliche Leben ein fortwährendes Komödienspielen. Dies macht es gehaltvollen Leuten insipid; während Plattköpfe sich so recht darin gefallen.]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 26 “Psychological Observations [Psychologische Bemerkungen],” § 315 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

It is quite certain that no one shows himself as he is, but that each wears a mask and plays a role. In general, the whole of social life is a continual comedy, which the worthy find insipid, whilst the stupid delight in it greatly.
[tr. Dircks (1897)]

No one reveals himself as he is; we all wear a mask and play a role.
[tr. Hollingdale (1970)]

It is certain that no one shows himself as he is, but everyone wears a mask and plays a part. Generally speaking, the whole of our social life is the continuous performance of a comedy. This renders it insipid for men of substances and merit, whereas blockheads take a real delight in it.
[tr. Payne (1974)]

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-12-11)

Dave — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:59:49 +0000

CALVIN: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.

HOBBES: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re in a tragedy or a farce.

CALVIN: We need more special effects and dance numbers.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-12-11)
(Source)

See Cicero (44 BC), Shakespeare (1599), Heywood (1612), Billings (1877), O'Casey (c. 1940), Brooks (1970).

Mencken, H. L. -- A Book of Burlesques, ch. 11 (1920)

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

SELF-RESPECT: The secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Book of Burlesques, ch. 11 (1920)

O'Casey, Sean -- (Attributed)

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

All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.

Sean O'Casey (1880-1964) Irish playwright [b. John Casey, a.k.a. Seán O'Cathaseaigh]
(Attributed)

Widely attributed to O'Casey, but I am unable to find a primary source or verifiable citation.

See Cicero (44 BC), Shakespeare (1599), Heywood (1612), Billings (1877), Brooks (1970), Watterson (1993).

Shakespeare, William -- As You Like It, Act 2, sc. 7, l. 146ff (2.7.146-149) (1599)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

JAQUES:All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts ….

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
As You Like It, Act 2, sc. 7, l. 146ff (2.7.146-149) (1599)
(Source)

See Cicero (44 BC), Heywood (1612), Billings (1877), O'Casey (c. 1940), Brooks (1970), Watterson (1993).