WIST Quotations

Whitman, Walt -- Leaves of Grass, Preface (1855)

Dave — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 16:21:14 +0000

How beautiful is candor! All faults may be forgiven of him who has perfect candor.

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet
Leaves of Grass, Preface (1855)

Nietzsche, Friedrich -- Beyond Good and Evil, 169 (1886) [tr. Kaufmann (1966)]

Dave — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 17:21:15 +0000

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher and poet
Beyond Good and Evil, 169 (1886) [tr. Kaufmann (1966)]

Seneca the Younger -- Thyestes, ll. 401-403 [tr. Bacon]

Dave — Fri, 20 May 2016 15:33:37 +0000

It is a sad fate for a man to die
Too well known to everybody else,
And still unknown to himself.

[Illi mors gravis incubate
Qui notus nimis omnibus
Ignotus moritur sibi.]

Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Thyestes, ll. 401-403 [tr. Bacon]

Lines from the Chorus translated by Francis Bacon, in "Of Great Place," Essays, Part 11. Sometimes incorrectly attributed to Bacon.

Richter, Jean-Paul -- Titan, Jubilee 28, cycle 110 (1803) [tr. Brooks (1863)]

Dave — Thu, 19 May 2016 14:54:21 +0000

Never does a man portray his own character more vividly than in his manner of portraying another’s.

[Nie zeichnet der Mensch den eignen Charakter schärfer als in seiner Manier, einen fremden zu zeichnen.]

Jean Paul Richter (1763–1825) German writer, art historian, philosopher, littérateur [Johann Paul Friedrich Richter; pseud. Jean Paul]
Titan, Jubilee 28, cycle 110 (1803) [tr. Brooks (1863)]

(Source (German)). Another translation:

A man never reveals his character more vividly than when portraying the character of another.
[E.g. (1960); E.g. (1962)]

Woolf, Virginia -- “The Leaning Tower,” Lecture, Workers’ Educational Association, Brighton (May 1940)

Dave — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:30:57 +0000

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English modernist writer [b. Adeline Virginia Stephen]
“The Leaning Tower,” Lecture, Workers’ Educational Association, Brighton (May 1940)