WIST Quotations

Eliot, T. S. -- The Family Reunion, 2.3 (1939)

Dave — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 19:13:33 +0000

Success is relative:
It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
The Family Reunion, 2.3 (1939)

Johnson, Lyndon -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:57:34 +0000

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: “President Can’t Swim.”

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
(Attributed)

Frequently attributed to Johnson, usually referencing the last year or two of his presidency, when public opinion turned against him over Vietnam. I am unable to find any actual citable source.

Johnson, Samuel -- Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30

Dave — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:48:15 +0000

Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30
(Source)

Twain, Mark -- Interview (1889) by Rudyard Kipling, Elmira, New York, From Sea to Sea, Part 2, ch. 37 “An Interview with Mark Twain” (1899)

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

Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Interview (1889) by Rudyard Kipling, Elmira, New York, From Sea to Sea, Part 2, ch. 37 “An Interview with Mark Twain” (1899)
(Source)

Broader context:

"Personally I never care for fiction or story-books. What I like to read about are facts and statistics of any kind. If they are only facts about the raising of radishes, they interest me. Just now, for instance, before you came in" -- he pointed to an encyclopædia on the shelves -- "I was reading an article about 'Mathematics.' Perfectly pure mathematics.
"My own knowledge of mathematics stops at 'twelve times twelve,' but I enjoyed that article immensely. I didn't understand a word of it: but facts, or what a man believes to be facts, are always delightful. That mathematical fellow believed in his facts. So do I. Get your facts first, and" -- the voice dies away to an almost inaudible drone -- "then you can distort 'em as much as you please."

Variant: "Get the facts first. You can distort them later."

For more discussion of this quotation, see "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them… (Barry Popik).

Russell, Bertrand -- Comment, The Brains Trust, BBC Radio (1948-04-26)

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

I am firm. You are obstinate. He is a pig-headed fool.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Comment, The Brains Trust, BBC Radio (1948-04-26)
(Source)

Offered as a game, "Conjugations" (today referred to by linguists as "Russell Conjugations" or "Emotive Conjugations"). The publication The New Statesman and Nation subsequently ran a competition for similar "irregular verbs," which were later printed (1948-05-15), along with the quote from Russell.

Sometimes misattributed to British journalist Katharine Whitehorn.

Wills, Garry -- The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power, ch. 18 (1981)

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

This is always the danger with propaganda, that it becomes at last more credible to its disseminators than to its targets.

Garry Wills (b. 1934) American author, journalist, historian
The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power, ch. 18 (1981)
(Source)

Referring to US government efforts in the early 60s to paint Castro's regime in Cuba as weak, eventually leading to the US government itself thinking the regime could be easily toppled.