WIST Quotations

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Don Juan, Canto 4, st. 1 (1821)

Dave — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 14:18:45 +0000

Nothing so difficult as a beginning
In poesy, unless perhaps the end.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Don Juan, Canto 4, st. 1 (1821)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1829-12-07)

Dave — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 18:44:54 +0000

The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings. There is not one who has not felt the sacred fire of virtue many a time kindling up within him. He resolved to read, he resolved to give, he solved to abstain, to speak well, to think in a train, to serve God, to imitate Christ. Something he did toward realizing his purpose — but it was most unlucky time — some very unseasonable circumstances occurred and the good purpose was postponed. Who is there here who does not remember his defeats?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1829-12-07)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, Book 5, ch. 58

Dave — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:53:56 +0000

The beginnings of all things are small.

[Omnium rerum principia parva sunt.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, Book 5, ch. 58

Alt. trans.: "Everything has a small beginning."

Priestley, J. B. -- Delight (1949)

Dave — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 15:39:45 +0000

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.

J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) English author, dramatist [John Boyne Priestley]
Delight (1949)

Umebinyuo, Ijeoma -- “Start now” (27 Sep 2014)

Dave — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:42:30 +0000

Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with voice trembling but start. Start and don’t stop. Start where you are, with what you have. Just … start.

Ijeoma Umebinyuo (contemp.) Nigerian poet
“Start now” (27 Sep 2014)
(Source)

Horace -- Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 2 “To Lollius,” l. 40ff (1.2.40-41) (20 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

Dave — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 17:21:44 +0000

Well begun is half done; dare to be wise; begin!

[Dimidium facti qui coepit habet; sapere aude;
incipe!]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 2 “To Lollius,” l. 40ff (1.2.40-41) (20 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]
(Source)

See Aristotle.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

The facte begun, to one halfe is done, be wyse and take good harte:
Begin.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.
[tr. Cowley (17th C)]

Set forth, thou'rt half thy way.
Dare to be wise: Begin.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]

Begin: 'tis half the work: assume the power
To live: expect not for a fairer hower.
[tr. "Dr. W."; ed. Brome (1666)]

He that hath once begun a good design,
Hath finish't half; dare to be wise, begin.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

Dare to be wise; begin; for, once begun,
Your task is easy; half the work is done.
[tr. Francis (1747)]

In virtue's race to start is half to win;
Come then, be wise -- take courage and begin!
[tr. Howes (1845)]

He has half the deed done, who has made a beginning. Boldly undertake the study of true wisdom: begin it forthwith.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

Come now, have courage to be wise: begin:
You're halfway over when you once plunge in.
[tr. Conington (1874)]

Make a good start, and you are sure to win.
So, then, have courage to be wise! Begin!
[tr. Martin (1881)]

Whoever has begun a deed, by so doing has accomplished half of it. Dare to be wise. Begin.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

Well begun
Is half done. Dare to be wise. Get under way!
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

Once you start, it's nearly done. Be brave and wise:
Begin.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

To begin a job is half the labor: be brave
Enough to be wise: begin!
[tr. Raffel (1983)]

Get yourself going and you'll be halfway there;
Dare to be wise; get started.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]

Well begun is half done. Dare to be wise.
Start now.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

Who’s started has half finished: dare to be wise: begin!
[tr. Kline (2015)]

He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin!
[Bartlett's]

Lao-tzu -- Tao-te Ching ch. 64 [tr. Wing-Tsit Chan]

Dave — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 14:17:35 +0000

A tower of nine storeys begins with a heap of earth.
The journey of a thousand li starts from where one stands.

Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
Tao-te Ching ch. 64 [tr. Wing-Tsit Chan]

Popularized in the west by John F. Kennedy, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step," announcing the atmospheric nuclear test ban treaty (26 Jul 1963).

~Proverbs and Sayings -- Dutch proverb

Dave — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:57:24 +0000

He who is outside the door has already a good part of his journey behind him.

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Dutch proverb

Du Deffand, Marie -- Letter to Horace Walpole (6 Jun 1767)

Dave — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:05:45 +0000

The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that costs.

Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand (1697-1780) French hostess and patron of the arts [Madame du Deffand].
Letter to Horace Walpole (6 Jun 1767)

Carroll, Lewis -- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, ch. 12 (1865)

Dave — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:09:24 +0000

‘Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?’ he asked.

‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said, gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) English writer and mathematician [pseud. of Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, ch. 12 (1865)

Sophocles -- Fragments, l. 715.

Dave — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:38:31 +0000

If one begins all deeds well, it is likely that they will end well too.

Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
Fragments, l. 715.

Aristotle -- Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 5, ch. 4 / 1303b30 [tr. Jowett (1885)]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Well begun is half done.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 5, ch. 4 / 1303b30 [tr. Jowett (1885)]
(Source)

People attribute this to Aristotle largely because Jowett used a contemporary proverb in lieu of what Aristotle wrote: "As the proverb says -- 'Well begun is half done.'" The following alternative translations capture his original meaning more closely:

"The beginning is said to be half of the business." [tr. Ellis (1912)]
"The beginning as the proverb says is half of the whole." [tr. Rackham (1932)]
"The beginning is said to be 'half of the whole.'" [tr. Lord (1984)]
"The starting-point is said to be half the whole." [tr. Reeve (2007)]