WIST Quotations

Howell, James -- Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in Italian” (1659) [compiler]

Dave — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:03:09 +0000

By seeing one thou knowest him half, by hearing him speak thou knowst all.

[Vedendo uno conosci mezzo, udendolo parlar il conosci tutto.]

James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian, writer, aphorist
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in Italian” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)

See also the Bible, Menander.

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- “Beppo,” st. 44 (1818)

Dave — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 15:33:44 +0000

I love the language, that soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth,
And sounds as if it should be writ on satin,
With syllables which breathe of the sweet South,
And gentle liquids gliding all so pat in,
That not a single accent seems uncouth,
Like our harsh northern whistling, grunting guttural,
Which we’re obliged to hiss, and spit, and sputter all.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824) English poet
“Beppo,” st. 44 (1818)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 16, Soul Music [Ridcully] (1994)

Dave — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 18:55:19 +0000

“Come on, lad,” he said. “Let’s go home. I’m not sure I’m that interested in music anymore. It’s a world of hertz.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 16, Soul Music [Ridcully] (1994)
(Source)

Cerf, Bennett -- An Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor, Foreword (1954)

Dave — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 16:02:59 +0000

For me, a hearty “belly laugh” is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.

Bennett Cerf (1898–1971) American publisher, humorist
An Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor, Foreword (1954)
(Source)

Variant: "For me, one of the most beautiful sounds in the world is a hearty laugh."

Parker, Dorothy -- “Testament,” Not So Deep as a Well (1936)

Dave — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 17:18:22 +0000

Oh, let it be a night of lyric rain
And singing breezes, when my bell is tolled.
I have so loved the rain that I would hold
Last in my ears its friendly, dim refrain.

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American writer, poet, wit
“Testament,” Not So Deep as a Well (1936)
(Source)

Stross, Charles -- The Annihilation Score (2015)

Dave — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 00:32:59 +0000

The music — It’s ghostly, it’s wild, and it teeters on the edge of arrhythmia: a skirling mournful howl of tormented strings, the distant moaning of a tied-down giant whose vocal cords are being bowed by malign Lilliputian tormentors, intent on turning his every attempt at spoken communication into a vehicle for an inhuman melody.

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
The Annihilation Score (2015)
(Source)