WIST Quotations

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love

Dave — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 18:05:48 +0000

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)

Sometimes called "The Man Worth While." Collected again in Poems of Cheer (1910).

Wilde, Oscar -- The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 14 (1891)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 16:27:58 +0000

Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of its chiefest charms.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 14 (1891)
(Source)

Catullus -- Carmina # 39 “To Egnatius,” ll. 15-16 [tr. McDonnell (1998)]

Dave — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 17:43:29 +0000

I still should not want you to smile on all occasions:
for nothing is more silly than a silly smile.

[Tamen renidere usque quaque te nollem;
Nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est.]

Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 39 “To Egnatius,” ll. 15-16 [tr. McDonnell (1998)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

E'en then that ceaseless ill-tim'd grin forego:
A silly laugh's the silliest thing I know.
[tr. Nott (1795), # 37]

I'd say renounce thy ceaseless idiot grin,
A silly laugh is folly, if not sin.
[tr. Cranstoun (1867)]

Yet sweetly smiling ever I would have you not,
For silly laughter, it's a silly thing indeed.
[tr. Ellis (1871)]

Yet thy incessant grin I would not see,
For naught than laughter silly sillier be.
[tr. Burton (1893)]

Still I wish you wouldn't grin forever everywhere; for nothing is more senseless than senseless giggling.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]

Still I should not like you to be smiling everlastingly; for there is nothing more silly than a silly laugh.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]

I would have you drop your endless grin: for nothing is more inane than inane laughter.
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]

Still not to smile for aye is wisdom's rule:
For folly's laugh proclaims the peerless fool.
[tr. MacNaghten (1925)]

I still should still disapprove that constant smile;
It shows a silly, poor, affected style.
[tr. Wright (1926)]

Your smile would still offend me; nothing is worse
than senseless laughter from a foolish face.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]

I still wouldn't want to see you always grinning,
for nothing is more inept than inept laughter.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]

I’d still not want you to smile all the time:
there’s nothing more foolish than foolishly smiling.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

I'd still not want you flashing yours all round since
nothing's more fatuous than a fatuous grin.
[tr. Green (2005)]

I still should not want you to smile on all occasions:
for nothing is more silly than a silly smile.
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]

Wolcot, John -- Expostulatory Odes to a Great Duke and a Little Lord, Ode 15, ll. 5-6 (1789)

Dave — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 19:59:40 +0000

Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt;
And every grin, so merry, draws one out.

John Wolcot (1738-1819) English satirist (pseud. Peter Pindar)
Expostulatory Odes to a Great Duke and a Little Lord, Ode 15, ll. 5-6 (1789)
(Source)

Dickens, Charles -- A Christmas Carol, Stave 5 “The End of It” (1843)

Dave — Fri, 19 May 2023 03:45:33 +0000

Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
A Christmas Carol, Stave 5 “The End of It” (1843)
(Source)

Burchill, Julie -- Quoted in The Independent (5 Dec 1989)

Dave — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 16:35:51 +0000

Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death’s perfect punctuation mark is a smile.

Julie Burchill (b. 1959) English novelist, columnist, broadcaster
Quoted in The Independent (5 Dec 1989)

Bovee, Christian Nestell -- Intuitions and Summaries of Thought, vol. 2 (1862)

Dave — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 17:19:08 +0000

Something of a person’s character may be discovered by observing when and how he smiles. Some people never smile; they grin.

Christian Nestell Bovee (1820-1904) American epigrammatist, writer, publisher
Intuitions and Summaries of Thought, vol. 2 (1862)
(Source)

Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff -- The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats, ch. 3 (2002)

Dave — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 14:41:15 +0000

Unlike a human smile, purring cannot be, as far as anyone knows, faked.

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (b. 1941) American author
The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats, ch. 3 (2002)
(Source)

Whittier, John Greenleaf -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 01:37:52 +0000

A little smile, a word of cheer,
A bit of love from someone near,
A little gift from one held dear,
Best wishes for the coming year–
These make a Merry Christmas!

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) American poet and abolitionist
(Attributed)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 4, Mort (1987)

Dave — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:07:37 +0000

A faint smile hovered around the man’s lips. It was the sort of smile that lies on sandbanks waiting for incautious swimmers.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 4, Mort (1987)
(Source)

Sondheim, Stephen -- Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) [with Hugh Wheeler]

Dave — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 18:13:49 +0000

His voice was soft,
His manner mild.
He seldom laughed,
But he often smiled.
He’d seen how civilized men behave.
He never forgot and he never forgave,
Not Sweeney,
Not Sweeney Todd,
The demon barber of Fleet Street.

Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) American composer and lyricist
Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) [with Hugh Wheeler]

Buscaglia, Leo -- Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (1992)

Dave — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:55:25 +0000

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Leo Buscaglia (1925-1998) American psychologist, writer
Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (1992)

HIcks, Bill -- Relentless (1992)

Dave — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 12:23:13 +0000

I just have one of those faces. People come up to me and say, “What’s wrong?” Nothing. “Well, it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile.” Yeah, you know it takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me alone?

Bill Hicks (1961-1994) American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, musician [William Melvin "Bill" Hicks]
Relentless (1992)

Gaiman, Neil -- Neverwhere, ch. 6 (1996)

Dave — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 13:10:43 +0000

Then he smiled, like a cat who had just been entrusted with the keys to a home for wayward but plump canaries.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Neverwhere, ch. 6 (1996)
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- Following the Equator, ch. 52, epigraph (Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar) (1897)

Dave — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:49:49 +0000

Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Following the Equator, ch. 52, epigraph (Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar) (1897)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Good Omens, 6. “Saturday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]

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

“From what I remember,” replied Crowley, thoughtfully, “– and we were never actually on what you might call speaking terms — He wasn’t exactly one for a straight answer. In fact, in fact, He’d never answer at all. He’d just smile, as if He knew something that you didn’t.”
“And of course that’s true,” said the angel. “Otherwise, what’d be the point?”

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 6. “Saturday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Hamlet, Act 1, sc. 5, l. 113ff (1.5.113-115) (c. 1600)

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

HAMLET: O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain!
My tables — meet it is I set it down
That one may smile and smile and be a villain.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 1, sc. 5, l. 113ff (1.5.113-115) (c. 1600)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Othello, Act 1, sc. 3, l. 238 (1.3.238) (1603)

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

DUKE: The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Othello, Act 1, sc. 3, l. 238 (1.3.238) (1603)
(Source)

Hugo, Victor -- Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 8 “Cemeteries Take What Is Given Them,” ch. 9 (2.8.9) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]

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

Laughter is sunshine; it chases winter from the human face.

[Le rire, c’est le soleil; il chasse l’hiver du visage humain.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 8 “Cemeteries Take What Is Given Them,” ch. 9 (2.8.9) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

For laughter is the sun which drives winter from the human face.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

A smile is the same as sunshine; it banishes winter from the human countenance.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

Laughter is a sun that drives out winter from the human face.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

Laughter is sunshine; it chases winter from the human face.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

Laughter is sunshine. It banishes winter from the human countenance.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]