WIST Quotations

Larkin, Philip -- Poem (1974), “The Old Fools,” High Windows

Dave — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 18:45:45 +0000

Perhaps being old is having lighted rooms
Inside your head, and having people in them, acting.
People you know, yet can’t quite name.

Philip Larkin (1922-1985) English poet, novelist, librarian
Poem (1974), “The Old Fools,” High Windows
(Source)

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth -- “Table-talk”

Dave — Fri, 21 May 2021 20:25:14 +0000

The years come when the mind, like an old mill, ceases to grind; when weeds grow on the wall; and through every crack and leak in dam and sluice, spouts the useless water.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
“Table-talk”
(Source)

Taylor, A. J. P. -- An Old Man’s Diary, entry from 1981 (1984)

Dave — Mon, 03 May 2021 16:48:20 +0000

The greatest problem about old age is the fear that it may go on too long.

A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) British historian, journalist, broadcaster [Alan John Percivale Taylor]
An Old Man’s Diary, entry from 1981 (1984)

Ouida -- Folle-Farine, Book 3, ch. 3 (1871)

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 15:46:56 +0000

There is no more terrible woe upon earth than the woe of the stricken brain, which remembers the days of its strength, the living light of its reason, the sunrise of its proud intelligence, and knows that these have passed away like a tale that is told.

Ouida (1839-1908) English novelist [pseud. of Maria Louise Ramé]
Folle-Farine, Book 3, ch. 3 (1871)
(Source)

Lehrer, Tom -- “When You Are Old and Gray”

Dave — Thu, 05 May 2016 15:09:25 +0000

An awful debility,
A lessened utility,
A loss of mobility
Is a strong possibility.
In all probability
I’ll lose my virility
And you your fertility
And desirability.
And this liability
Of total sterility
Will lead to hostility
And a sense of futility.
So let’s act with agility
While we still have facility,
For we’ll soon reach senility
And lose the ability.

Tom Lehrer (b. 1928) American mathematician, satirist, songwriter
“When You Are Old and Gray”

Bell, Alexander Graham -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:20:39 +0000

There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes, and to seek answers for his unceasing hows and whys about things.

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) Scottish-American scientist, inventor, engineer
(Attributed)

Comment to a reporter a few months before he died, as quoted in the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress.

Burgess, Gelett -- (Attributed)

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

If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead.

Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) American humorist and illustrator
(Attributed)

Common paraphrase. In Look Eleven Years Younger (1937), Burgess gives two versions of the quotation:

"When you find you haven’t discarded a major opinion for years, or acquired a new one, you should stop and investigate to see if you’re not growing senile."
"If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one investigate and see if you’re not growing senile."

See for more discussion.