WIST Quotations

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1995-12-24), “Look to the Children of the Poor in This Season of Budget-Slashing,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dave — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:18:27 +0000

How the American right managed to convince itself that the programs to alleviate poverty are responsible for the consequences of poverty will someday be studied as a notorious mass illusion. In the meantime, real children — kids who get earaches and like Big Bird and are crabby when they aren’t fed and whose eyes widen in wonder when they meet Santa Claus — will pay the price for this pernicious folly.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1995-12-24), “Look to the Children of the Poor in This Season of Budget-Slashing,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(Source)

Collected in You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You (1998).

Hugo, Victor -- Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli [tr. Wraxall (1862)]

Dave — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 22:40:17 +0000

Whether we be Italians or Frenchmen, misery concerns us all. Ever since history has been written, ever since philosophy has meditated, misery has been the garment of the human race; the moment has at length arrived for tearing off that rag, and for replacing, upon the naked limbs of the Man-People, the sinister fragment of the past with the grand purple robe of the dawn.

[Italiens ou français, la misère nous regarde tous. Depuis que l’histoire écrit et que la philosophie médite, la misère est le vêtement du genre humain; le moment serait enfin venu d’arracher cette guenille, et de remplacer, sur les membres nus de l’Homme-Peuple, la loque sinistre du passé par la grande robe pourpre de l’aurore.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli [tr. Wraxall (1862)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Daeli was the publisher of the Italian translation of Les Misérables.

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Speech (1940-11-01), Campaign Address, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York

Dave — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:29:16 +0000

We understand the philosophy of those who offer resistance, of those who conduct a counter offensive against the American people’s march of social progress. It is not an opposition which comes necessarily from wickedness — it is an opposition that comes from subconscious resistance to any measure that disturbs the position of privilege.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1940-11-01), Campaign Address, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
(Source)

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Speech (1932-05-22), Commencement, Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, Georgia

Dave — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 20:46:27 +0000

I believe that the recent course of our history has demonstrated that, while we may utilize their expert knowledge of certain problems and the special facilities with which they are familiar, we cannot allow our economic life to be controlled by that small group of men whose chief outlook upon the social welfare is tinctured by the fact that they can make huge profits from the lending of money and the marketing of securities — an outlook which deserves the adjectives “selfish” and “opportunist.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1932-05-22), Commencement, Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, Georgia
(Source)

Kennedy, John F. -- “Special Message to the Congress on the Needs of the Nation’s Senior Citizens” (1963-02-21)

Dave — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:20:37 +0000

This increase in the life span and in the number of our senior citizens presents this Nation with increased opportunities: the opportunity to draw upon their skill and sagacity — and the opportunity to provide the respect and recognition they have earned. It is not enough for a great nation merely to have added new years to life — our objective must also be to add new life to those years.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
“Special Message to the Congress on the Needs of the Nation’s Senior Citizens” (1963-02-21)
(Source)

Johnson, Lyndon -- Comment (1970) to Doris Kearns Goodwin

Dave — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 14:05:14 +0000

I knew from the start that I was bound to be crucified either way I moved. If I left the woman I really loved — the Great Society — in order to get involved with that bitch of a war on the other side of the world, then I would lose everything at home. All my programs. All my hopes to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. All my dreams to provide education and medical care to the browns and the blacks and the lame and the poor. But if I left that war and let the Communists take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen as an appeaser and we would find it impossible to accomplish anything for anybody anywhere on the entire globe.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Comment (1970) to Doris Kearns Goodwin
(Source)

Quoted in Doris Kearns Goodwin, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, ch. 9 "Vietnam" (1976). Kearns was an intern and staff member in the Johnson White House, and worked with him on his memoirs.

Johnson, Lyndon -- Speech (1964-01-08), “State of the Union,” Joint Session of Congress, Washington, D. C.

Dave — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:57:23 +0000

This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Speech (1964-01-08), “State of the Union,” Joint Session of Congress, Washington, D. C.
(Source)

(Source (Video))

First use by Johnson of the term "War on Poverty."