WIST Quotations

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 9 “Sex in Education” (1932)

Dave — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:57:03 +0000

I am sure that university life would be better, both intellectually and morally, if most university students had temporary childless marriages. This would afford a solution to the sexual urge neither restless nor surreptitious, neither mercenary nor casual, and of such a nature that it need not take up time which ought to be given to work.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 9 “Sex in Education” (1932)
(Source)

Marlowe, Christopher -- The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 1 (sc. 1), l. 138ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)

Dave — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 22:36:23 +0000

Philosophy is odious and obscure;
Both law and physic are for petty wits;
Divinity is basest of the three,
Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile:
‘Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish’d me.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564–1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 1 (sc. 1), l. 138ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)
(Source)

Declaring to the magicians Valdes and Cornelius his decision to pursue magical studies.

Goethe's Faust (1808-1829) includes a similar litany of studies the title character feels are useless.

In the generally longer 1616 "B" text (l. 131ff), the lines about Divinity studies are omitted:

Philosophy is odious and obscure:
Both Law and Physicke are for petty wits,
Tis Magicke, Magicke that hath ravisht me.

Bacon, Francis -- “Of Studies,” Essays, No. 50 (1625)

Dave — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 00:37:05 +0000

To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Studies,” Essays, No. 50 (1625)
(Source)

Burke, Edmund -- A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful, 1.19 (1756)

Dave — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 13:25:23 +0000

The elevation of the mind ought to be the principal end of all our studies.

Edmund Burke (1729–1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful, 1.19 (1756)

Bacon, Francis -- “Of Studies,” Essays, No. 50 (1625)

Dave — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 14:54:34 +0000

Crafty men condemn studies; simple men admire them; and wise men use them.

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Studies,” Essays, No. 50 (1625)
(Source)

Huxley, Aldous -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 13:24:26 +0000

An intellectual is a person who has discovered something more interesting than sex.

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
(Attributed)

The first found reference is after Huxley's death, and it's most likely based on a variant by someone else. More discussion here.