WIST Quotations

Montesquieu -- Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1637 / 1051 (1720-1755) [ed. Guterman (1963)]

Dave — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 21:08:34 +0000

Solemnity is the fool’s shield and buckler.

[La gravité est la bouclier des sots.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1637 / 1051 (1720-1755) [ed. Guterman (1963)]
(Source)

(Source (French), # 1051). Other translations:

Gravity is the shield of fools.
[tr. Clark (2012), # 1637]

Solemnity is the shield of idiots.
[E.g.]

De Mello, Anthony -- One Minute Nonsense, Introduction [The Master] (1992)

Dave — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:14:17 +0000

No one is exempt from talking nonsense. The great misfortune is to do it solemnly.

Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) Indian psychotherapist, writer, Jesuit priest
One Minute Nonsense, Introduction [The Master] (1992)
(Source)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 202 (1820)

Dave — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 01:01:47 +0000

A harmless hilarity and a buoyant cheerfulness are not infrequent concomitants of genius; and we are never more deceived than when we mistake gravity for greatness, solemnity for science, and pomposity for erudition.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780–1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 202 (1820)
(Source)