WIST Quotations

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2073 (1727)

Dave — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 15:28:26 +0000

Be not deceived: it is not that which Men believe of thee will make thee happy or miserable; but that which thou believest of thyself.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2073 (1727)
(Source)

Sarton, May -- Journal of a Solitary, “January 5th” (1973)

Dave — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 13:57:07 +0000

At some point I believe one has to stop holding back for fear of alienating some imaginary reader or real relative or friend, and come out with personal truth. If we are to understand the human condition, and if we are to accept ourselves with all the complexity, self-doubt, extravagance of feeling, guilt, joy, the slow freeing of the self to its full capacity for action and creation, both as human being and as artist, we have to know all we can abou each other, and we have to be willing to go naked.

May Sarton (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
Journal of a Solitary, “January 5th” (1973)
(Source)

Lorde, Audre -- “Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger,” Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984)

Dave — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 17:26:59 +0000

Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) American writer, feminist, civil rights activist
“Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger,” Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984)
(Source)

Sarton, May -- Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing (1965)

Dave — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 05:15:46 +0000

We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.

May Sarton (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing (1965)

Scott-Maxwell, Florida -- The Measure of My Days (1968)

Dave — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 15:47:35 +0000

Age is truly a time of heroic helplessness. One is confronted by one’s own incorrigibility. I am always saying to myself, “Look at you, and after a lifetime of trying.” I still have the vices that I have known and struggled with — well it seems like since birth. Many of them are modified, but not much. I can neither order nor command the hubbub of my mind.

Florida Scott-Maxwell (1883-1979) American-British playwright, author, psychologist
The Measure of My Days (1968)
(Source)

Parker, Dorothy -- “Indian Summer,” Enough Rope (1926)

Dave — Mon, 04 May 2020 15:11:15 +0000

In youth, it was a way I had
To do my best to please,
And change, with every passing lad,
To suit his theories.

But now I know the things I know,
And do the things I do;
And if you do not like me so,
To hell, my love, with you!

Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) American writer, poet, wit
“Indian Summer,” Enough Rope (1926)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 15:57:40 +0000

About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Erasmus, Desiderius -- The Praise of Folly, ch. 10 (1509) [tr. Hudson (1941)]

Dave — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:27:12 +0000

The better part of happiness is to wish to be what you are.

Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536) Dutch humanist philosopher and scholar
The Praise of Folly, ch. 10 (1509) [tr. Hudson (1941)]

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 847 (1732)

Dave — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:16:51 +0000

Be a Friend to thyself, and others will be so too.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 847 (1732)
(Source)

Havel, Vaclav -- Speech, accepting the “Open Society” Prize, Central European University (24 Jun 1999)

Dave — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:38:36 +0000

Those who have not lost the ability to recognize that which is laughable in themselves, or their own nothingness, are not arrogant, nor are they enemies of an Open Society. Its enemy is a person with a fiercely serious countenance and burning eyes.

Václav Havel (1936-2011) Czech playwright, essayist, dissident, politician
Speech, accepting the “Open Society” Prize, Central European University (24 Jun 1999)
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 7.4 “Discipline of Conscience”

Dave — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:31:12 +0000

Our business in this world is not to succeed, but to continue to fail, in good spirits.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 7.4 “Discipline of Conscience”
(Source)

A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in the Edinburgh Edition of his Works, vol. 28 (1898).