WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 228ff (4.1.228-233) (1598)

Dave — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 22:02:09 +0000

FRIAR: For it so falls out
That what we have we prize not to the worth,
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost,
Why then we rack the value, then we find
The virtue that possession would not show us
Whiles it was ours.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 228ff (4.1.228-233) (1598)

Jacobs, Joseph -- Dark Age Ahead, “Notes and Comments” (2004)

Dave — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:05:43 +0000

I have learned yet again (this has been going on all my life) what folly it is to take anything for granted without examining it skeptically.

Joseph Jacobs (1854–1916) Australian folklorist, literary critic, historian writer
Dark Age Ahead, “Notes and Comments” (2004)

Huxley, Aldous -- Essay (1950), “Variations on a Philosopher,” Themes and Variations

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

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Essay (1950), “Variations on a Philosopher,” Themes and Variations

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Self-Evident,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

SELF-EVIDENT, adj. Evident to one’s self and to nobody else.

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Self-Evident,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Originally published in The Devil's Dictionary [A-Z] as Vol. 7 of his Collected Works.