WIST Quotations

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.

Goethe, Johann von -- Faust: a Tragedy [eine Tragödie], Part 1, sc. 4 “Night,” ll. 354ff (1808-1829) [tr. Luke (1987)]

Dave — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 17:53:02 +0000

Well, that’s Philosophy I’ve read,
And Law and Medicine, and I fear
Theology, too, from A to Zed;
Hard studies all, that have cost me dear.
And so I sit, poor silly man
No wiser now than when I began.

[Habe nun, ach! Philosophie,
Juristerei und Medizin,
Und leider auch Theologie
Durchaus studiert, mit heißem Bemühn.
Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor!
Und bin so klug als wie zuvor.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Faust: a Tragedy [eine Tragödie], Part 1, sc. 4 “Night,” ll. 354ff (1808-1829) [tr. Luke (1987)]
(Source)

Some translations (and this site) include the Declaration, Prelude on the Stage, and Prologue in Heaven as individual scenes; others do not, leading to their Part 1 scenes being numbered three lower.

See Marlowe (1594).

(Source (German)). Other translations:

I've studied now Philosophy
And Jurisprudence, Medicine,
And even, alas! Theology
All through and through with ardour keen!
Here now I stand, poor fool, and see
I'm just as wise as formerly.
[tr. Priest (1808)]

Now I have toil'd thro' all; philosophy,
Law, physic, and theology: alas!
All, all I have explor'd; and here I am
A weak blind fool at last: in wisdom risen
No higher than before.
[tr. Coleridge (1821)]

I have now, alas, by zealous exertion, thoroughly mastered philosophy, the jurist's craft, and medicine -- and to my sorrow, theology too. Here I stand, poor fool that I am, just as wise as before.
[tr. Hayward (1831)]

I have, alas! Philosophy,
Medicine, Jurisprudence too,
And to my cost Theology,
With ardent labour, studied through.
And here I stand, with all my lore,
Poor fool, no wiser than before.
[tr. Swanwick (1850)]

Have now, alas! quite studied through
Philosophy and Medicine,
And Law, and ah! Theology, too,
With hot desire the truth to win!
And here, at last, I stand, poor fool!
As wise as when I entered school
[tr. Brooks (1868)]

I've studied now Philosophy
And Jurisprudence, Medicine, --
And even, alas! Theology, --
From end to end, with labor keen;
And here, poor fool! with all my lore
I stand, no wiser than before:
[tr. Taylor (1870)]

There now, I’ve toiled my way quite through
Law, Medicine, and Philosophy,
And, to my sorrow, also thee,
Theology, with much ado;
And here I stand, poor human fool,
As wise as when I went to school.
[tr. Blackie (1880)]

I have studied, alas! Philosophy,
And Jurisprudence, and Medicine, too,
And saddest of all, Theology,
With arden labor, through and through!
And here I stick, as wise, poor fool,
As when my steps first turned to school.
[tr. Latham (1908)]

I have, alas, studied philosophy,
Jurisprudence and medicine, too,
And, worst of all, theology
With keen endeavor, through and through --
And here I am, for all my lore,
The wretched fool I was before.
[tr. Kaufmann (1961)]

Alas, I have studied philosophy,
the law as well as medicine,
and to my sorrow, theology;
studied them well with ardent zeal,
yet here I am, a wretched fool
no wiser than I was before.
[tr. Salm (1962)]

I have pursued, alas, philosophy,
Jurisprudence, and medicine, And, help me God, theology,
With fervent zeal through thick and thin.
And here, poor fool, I stand once more,
No wiser than I was before.
[tr. Arndt (1976)]

I've studied, alas, philosophy,
Law and medicine, recto and verso,
And how I regret it, theology also,
Oh God, how hard I've slaved away,
With what result? Poor foolish old man,
I'm not whit wiser than when I began!
[tr. Greenberg (1992)]

Medicine, and Law, and Philosophy --
You've worked your way through every school,
Even, God help you, Theology,
And sweated at it like a fool.
Why labour at it any more?
You're no wiser now than you were before.
[tr. Williams (1999)]

Ah! Now I’ve done Philosophy,
I’ve finished Law and Medicine,
And sadly even Theology:
Taken fierce pains, from end to end.
Now here I am, a fool for sure!
No wiser than I was before.
[tr. Kline (2003)]

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)

La Rochefoucauld, Francois -- Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶101 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]

Dave — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:59:46 +0000

It often happens that things come into the mind in a more finished form than could have been achieved after much study.

[Il arrive souvent que des choses se présentent plus achevées à notre esprit qu’il ne les pourrait faire avec beaucoup d’art.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶101 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
(Source)

Present in the 1st (1665) edition, where variants included the phrase:

There are pretty things that the mind does not seek, and that it finds all completed in itself; it seems that they are hidden there, like gold and diamonds in the bosom of the earth.

[Il y a des jolies choses que l’esprit ne cherche point, et qu’il trouve toutes achevées en lui-même; il semble qu’elles y soient cachées, comme l’or et les diamants dans le sein de la terre.]

(Source (French)). Other translations:

There are certain ingenious things which the mind seeks not after, but finds brought to their full perfection in it self; so that it should seem they lay hid there, as Gold and Diamonds do in the bosom of the earth.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶190]

It often happens, that some things offer themselves to our Wit, and are finer description in the very first thought, than it is possible for a man to make them by the Additions of Art and Study.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶102]

It often happens, that some Things offer themselves finer in the very first Thought, than it were possible for a Man to have made them by Art and Study.
[pub. Donaldson (1783)]

It often happens, that things present themselves to the mind; more finished, than we, with much labour, can make them.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶391]

It often happens; that things present themselves to our minds in a more complete state than we could by much art make them arrive at.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶104]

Ideas often flash across our minds more complete than we could make them after much labour.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶101]

It often happens that ideas reach our mind in a state of perfection exceeding that which our intellect, with all the resources of art, could fashion.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶101]

Things often spring spontaneously to mind in a more finished form than could be achieved with great labor and thought.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶101]