WIST Quotations

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)

Dave — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:28:30 +0000

The teaching which I received was genuinely democratic in one way. It was not so democratic in another. I grew into manhood thoroughly imbued with the feeling that a man must be respected for what he made of himself. But I had also, consciously or unconsciously, been taught that socially and industrially pretty much the whole duty of the man lay in thus making the best of himself; that he should be honest in his dealings with others and charitable in the old-fashioned way to the unfortunate; but that it was no part of his business to join with others in trying to make things better for the many by curbing the abnormal and excessive development of individualism in a few.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Article (1857-11), “Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:52:51 +0000

Of course everybody likes and respects self-made men. It is a great deal better to be made in that way than not to be made at all.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1857-11), “Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly

Collected in Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, ch. 1 (1858).

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 11 “The Mermaid” (1874)

Dave — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 18:06:23 +0000

Natur seldum makes a phool, she simply furnishes the raw materials, and lets the fellow finish the job to suit himself.

[Nature seldom makes a fool, she simply furnishes the raw materials and lets the fellow finish the job to suit himself.]

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 11 “The Mermaid” (1874)

See also Billings.

Shakespeare, William -- Coriolanus, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 38ff (5.3.38-41) (c. 1608)

Dave — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 19:56:53 +0000

CORIOLANUS:I’ll never
Be such a gosling to obey instinct; but stand,
As if a man were author of himself,
And knew no other kin.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Coriolanus, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 38ff (5.3.38-41) (c. 1608)

Lakoff, George -- Don’t Think of an Elephant! (2004)

Dave — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 20:36:05 +0000

There is no such thing as a self-made man. Every businessman has used the vast American infrastructure, which the taxpayers paid for, to make his money. He did not make his money alone.

George Lakoff (b. 1941) American cognitive linguist and philosopher
Don’t Think of an Elephant! (2004)

Shaw, George Bernard -- (Spurious)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:53:25 +0000

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright and critic
(Spurious)

This aphorism is frequently attributed to Shaw, but not found in his works and not attributed to him or in this form before around 1990. It may be a misattributed paraphrase from Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin (1973): "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds; it is something one creates."

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #113 (9 Oct 1746)

Dave — Thu, 07 May 2015 12:10:59 +0000

I am very sure that any man of common understanding may, by proper culture, care, attention and labor, make himself whatever he pleases, except a great poet.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #113 (9 Oct 1746)

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax for 1873, “05 – May,” “Kold Slau” (1873)

Dave — Wed, 21 May 2014 11:53:46 +0000

Self-made men are most alwus apt tew be a leetle too proud ov the job.

[Self-made men are almost always apt to be a little too proud of the job.]

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax for 1873, “05 – May,” “Kold Slau” (1873)

Cervantes, Miguel de -- Don Quixote, Part 1, Book 1, ch. 4 (1605)

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

The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish novelist
Don Quixote, Part 1, Book 1, ch. 4 (1605)