WIST Quotations

Marlowe, Christopher -- The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 3 (sc. 3), l. 270ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 23:31:29 +0000

FAUSTUS: I see there’s virtue in my heavenly words:
Who would not be proficient in this art?
How pliant is this Mephistophilis,
Full of obedience and humility!
Such is the force of magic and my spells:
No, Faustus, thou art conjuror laureat,
That canst command great Mephistophilis:
Quin regis Mephistophilis fratris imagine.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 3 (sc. 3), l. 270ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)
(Source)

After ordering Mephistophiles to leave and change his form into something less hideous. The Latin reads "Return, Mephistopheles, in the shape of a friar" (which he had already ordered, in English, in the immediately preceding lines).

The B-text (1594; 1616) omits the last three lines from the A-text.

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Evangelist,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)

Dave — Tue, 21 May 2024 14:32:05 +0000

EVANGELIST, n. A bearer of good tidings, particularly (in a religious sense) such as assure us of our own salvation, and the damnation of our neighbors.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Evangelist,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1884-05-24).

The original entry in the Wasp concluded: “The evangelists proper are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; the evangelists improper are the parsons."

Mauldin, Bill -- Back Home, ch. 14 (1947)

Dave — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 18:44:29 +0000

I have heard people say we should be strong so that if there is another war we can win it, then show the world the right way to live afterward. This is old stuff, and it is poppycock. Our behavior hardly qualifies us as world leaders. Ours is one of the most conservative governments in the world today, and one of the most bumbling. We have more provincialism and bigotry and superstition and prejudice per square mile than almost any other nation. We like to think of ourselves as a young, progressive country, but, while we do have energy, we have become smug and self-satisfied.

Bill Mauldin (1921-2003) American editorial cartoonist, writer
Back Home, ch. 14 (1947)
(Source)

Holland, Barbara -- Endangered Pleasures, “Wearing Fur”(1995)

Dave — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 15:20:53 +0000

Of course, there are those who don’t eat lamb chops, for moral reasons. There are also those who rise before daybreak and leap into a cold shower in February; those hwo disapprove of idleness, gin rummy, slang, dancing, unauthorized sex, naps, socialism, and Jacuzzis for moral reasons. They enjoy it; moral indignation is a pleasure, often the only pleasure, in many lives. It’s also one of the few pleasures people feel obliged to force on other people.

Barbara Holland (1933-2010) American author
Endangered Pleasures, “Wearing Fur”(1995)
(Source)

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)