WIST Quotations

Thurber, James -- Letter (1961-07-05) to Marianna Brown

Dave — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:40:20 +0000

The past is an old armchair in the attic, the present an ominous ticking sound, and the future is anybody’s guess.

James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Letter (1961-07-05) to Marianna Brown
(Source)

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1737 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 16:27:48 +0000

To-morrow I’ll reform, the Fool does say:
To day it self’s too late; the Wise did yesterday.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
(Source)

See Martial (and Martial).

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter (1749-12-26) to his son (#211)

Dave — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 23:02:53 +0000

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter (1749-12-26) to his son (#211)
(Source)

Chesterfield either loves the "Never put off" phrase or is very familiar with it: he repeats it a few months later in Letter 216 (1750-02-05), and then a few years later in Letter 309 (1754-02-26).

See Fuller and Franklin.

Franklin, Benjamin -- “The Way to Wealth” (1758)

Dave — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 23:01:41 +0000

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
“The Way to Wealth” (1758)
(Source)

Today, this is more commonly given as "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."

Franklin had used a different phrasing in Poor Richard (1742 ed.): "Have you somewhat to do To-morrow, do it To-day." That was reprinted in Poor Richard Improved (1758 ed.), but when that latter work was condensed into "The Way to Wealth" that same year, the wording above was used.

As with so many of Franklin's "Poor Richard" aphorisms, this was not original to him. Thomas Fuller uses a similar phrase in 1725.

The sentiment itself has been mocked or modified by others such as Mark Twain, Josh Bilings, Aldous Huxley, Pablo Picasso, and Mignon McLaughlin.

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 124 (1725)

Dave — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:47:52 +0000

Never do that to Morrow, which thou canst as well do to Day.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 124 (1725)
(Source)

See Franklin.

Billings, Josh -- Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 148 “Affurisms: Ink Brats” (1874)

Dave — Fri, 31 May 2024 14:16:57 +0000

Put not oph till to-morrow what can be enjoyed to-day.

[Put not off till tomorrow what can be enjoyed today.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 148 “Affurisms: Ink Brats” (1874)
(Source)

Carlyle, Thomas -- Essay (1850-02-01), “The Present Time,” Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. 1

Dave — Thu, 16 May 2024 14:29:13 +0000

But in the days that are now passing over us, even fools are arrested to ask the meaning of them; few of the generations of men have seen more impressive days. Days of endless calamity, disruption, dislocation, confusion worse confounded: if they are not days of endless hope too, then they are days of utter despair. For it is not a small hope that will suffice, the ruin being clearly, either in action or in prospect, universal. There must be a new world, if there is to be any world at all!

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1850-02-01), “The Present Time,” Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. 1
(Source)

Omar Khayyam -- Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 135, ll. 3-4 [tr. M. K. (1888)]

Dave — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 05:30:10 +0000

Go, sit in the shade of the rose, for every rose
That springs from the earth, again to earth soon goes away!

Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 135, ll. 3-4 [tr. M. K. (1888)]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

And look -- a thousand Blossoms with the Day
Woke -- and a thousand scatter'd into Clay
[tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 8]

Morning a thousand Roses brings, you say;
Yes, but where leaves the Rose of yesterday?
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd Ed (1868), # 9]

Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say:
Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?
[tr. FitzGerald, 3rd ed. (1872), # 9; same in later editions]

Sit in the shade of the rose, for many times this rose from earth has come, and unto earth has gone.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 463]

Sit we beneath this rose, which many a time
Has sunk to earth, and sprung from earth again.
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 414]

Sit in the shade of the rose, for, by the wind, many roses
have been scattered to earth and have become dust.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 135]

Sit we 'neath this rose shade, for many a rose
Wind strewn in earth has turned to earth again!
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 522]

Sit in her fragrant bower, for oft the wind
Hath strewn and turn'd to dust such flowers as these.
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 135]

Rest in the shadow of the rose, for many of its leaves will the rose
Shed on the earth while we lie under the earth.
[tr. Rosen (1928), # 270]

Stay, Dearest One! beneath the rosy shade,
The roses bloom for Thee but soon would blight.
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 3.7]

Rest in the rose's shade, though winds have burst
A world of blossoml petals fall to dust --
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 74, ll. 1-2]

Sit in the rose's shadow, for oftentimes this rose shall spill upon the dust, when we are dust.
[tr. Bowen (1976), # 5a]

The Rosetree spills her petals in the dust,
And nothing of her fragrant harvest saves;
And yet this Rose, a plaything of the breeze,
Will bloom each year when we are in our graves.
[tr. Bowen (1976), # 5b]

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Orationes in Catilinam [Catilinarian Orations], No. 1, § 1, cl. 2 (1.1.2) (63-11-08 BC) [tr. Mongan (1879)]

Dave — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 01:43:21 +0000

O the times! O the manners!

[O tempora, o mores!]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Orationes in Catilinam [Catilinarian Orations], No. 1, § 1, cl. 2 (1.1.2) (63-11-08 BC) [tr. Mongan (1879)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Oh what times! what a world do we live in!
[tr. Wase (1671)]

But O degenerate times!
[tr. Sydney (1795)]

Shame on the age and on its principles!
[tr. Yonge (1856)]

O the times! O the manners.
[tr. Underwood (1885)]

O times! O manners!
[tr. Dewey (1916)]

What a scandalous commentary on our age and its standards!
[tr. Grant (1960)]

O what times (we live in)! O what customs (we pursue)!
[IB Notes]

What times! What morals!
[Source]

Kierkegaard, Soren -- Christian Discourses (Christelige Taler), Part 1 “The Cares of the Pagans,” ch. 6 (1848) [tr. Hong (1997)]

Dave — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 21:57:39 +0000

If one were to write a book called “The Best Remedy against Self-Torment,” it would be very brief: “Let each day have trouble enough of its own.”

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Christian Discourses (Christelige Taler), Part 1 “The Cares of the Pagans,” ch. 6 (1848) [tr. Hong (1997)]
(Source)

Ten Boom, Corrie -- He Cares, He Comforts (1977)

Dave — Mon, 22 May 2017 17:59:09 +0000

Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.

Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983) Dutch evangelist, concentration camp survivor
He Cares, He Comforts (1977)
(Source)

See Spurgeon.

Sophocles -- Trachiniae, l. 943

Dave — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 00:41:28 +0000

Rash indeed is he who reckons on the morrow, or haply on days beyond it; for tomorrow is not, until today is past.

Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
Trachiniae, l. 943

Kleiser, Grenville -- Inspiration And Ideals: Thoughts For Every Day, “August Twenty-Eighth” (1918 ed.)

Dave — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 17:21:29 +0000

There are many fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is surely yours is the present, hence this is the time to speak the word of appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others. Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the enrichment of some less fortunate fellow traveler. Today you can make your life big, broad, significant and worthwhile. The present is yours to do with it as you will.

Grenville Kleiser (1868-1953) Canadian-American self-help author
Inspiration And Ideals: Thoughts For Every Day, “August Twenty-Eighth” (1918 ed.)

Horace -- Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 9, l. 13ff (1.9.13-15) (23 BC) [tr. Gladstone (1894)]

Dave — Wed, 18 May 2016 14:16:26 +0000

Pry not, the morrow’s chance to learn:
Set down to gain whatever turn
The wheel may take.

[Quid sit futurum cras, fuge quaerere, et
quem fors dierum cumque dabit, lucro
adpone.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 9, l. 13ff (1.9.13-15) (23 BC) [tr. Gladstone (1894)]
(Source)

To Thaliarchus.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Upon to Morrow reckon not,
Then if it comes 'tis clearly got.
[Fanshaw (1666)]

All Cares, and Fears are fond and vain,
Fly vexing thoughts of dark to-morrow;
What Chance scores up, count perfect gain,
And banish business, banish sorrow.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

To-morrow and her works defy,
Lay hold upon the present hour,
And snatch the pleasures passing by,
To put them out of fortune's power:
[tr. Dryden (c. 1685)]

O, ask not what the morn will bring,
But count as gain each day that chance
May give you.
[tr. Conington (1872)]

Avoid inquiring what may happen to-morrow; and whatever day fortune shall bestow on you, score it up for gain.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

Let not to-morrow's change or chance
Perplex thee, but as gain
Count each new day!
[tr. Martin (1864)]

Shun to seek what is hid in the womb of the morrow;
Count the lot of each day as clear gain in life’s ledger.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]

What brings to-morrow care not to ask, and what
Fortune each day may bring, set it down as gain.
[tr. Phelps (1897)]

What is to be to-morrow do not ask: appraise
As gain the course of days Fortune will yield.
[tr. Garnsey (1907)]

What next morn's sun may bring, forbear to ask;
But count each day that comes by gift of chance
So much to the good.
[tr. Marshall (1908)]

Cease to ask what the morrow will bring forth, and set down as gain each day that Fortune grants!
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912)]

Ask not the morrow's good or ill;
Reckon it gain however chance
May shape each day.
[tr. Mills (1924)]

Try not to guess what lies in the future, but
As Fortune deals days enter them into your
Life's book as windfalls, credit items,
Gratefully.
[tr. Michie (1963)]

Stop wondering after tomorrow: take
Day by day the days you’re granted.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]

Cease to ask what tomorrow may bring
and count as gain whatever Fortune grants you today.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

Don’t ask what tomorrow brings, call them your gain
whatever days Fortune gives.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

Leave off asking what tomorrow will bring, and
whatever days fortune will give, count them
as profit.
[tr. Wikisource (2021)]

Coolidge, Susan -- “New Every Morning”

Dave — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 14:36:09 +0000

Every morning is a fresh beginning,
Listen my soul to the glad refrain.
And, spite of old sorrows
And older sinning,
Troubles forecasted
And possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again.

Susan Coolidge (1835-1905) American author [pseud. for Sarah Chauncey Woolsey]
“New Every Morning”

Buchwald, Art -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 14:06:30 +0000

Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.

Art Buchwald (1925-2007) American humorist, columnist
(Attributed)

Heinlein, Robert A. -- Methuselah’s Children [Lazarus Long] (1958)

Dave — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 15:44:27 +0000

Mary, my sweet, carpe that old diem! — it’s the only game in town.

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
Methuselah’s Children [Lazarus Long] (1958)

See Horace.

Steele, Richard -- Essay (1710-02-06), The Tatler, No. 130

Dave — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 15:59:50 +0000

Methinks a Man cannot, without a secret Satisfaction, consider the Glory of the present Age, which will shine as bright as any other in the History of Mankind. It is still big with great Events, and has already produced Changes and Revolutions which will be as much admired by Posterity, as any that have happened in the Days of our Fathers, or in the old Times before them.

Richard Steele (1672-1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1710-02-06), The Tatler, No. 130
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, sc. 3, l. 153ff (3.3.153-158) (1602)

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:49:48 +0000

ULYSSES: Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devoured
As fast as they are made, forgot as soon
As done. Perseverance, dear my lord,
Keeps honor bright. To have done is to hang
Quite out of fashion like a rusty mail
In monumental mock’ry.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, sc. 3, l. 153ff (3.3.153-158) (1602)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Immortality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:30:44 +0000

Sufficient to today are the duties of today. Don’t waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Immortality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)
(Source)

Horace -- Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 11, l. 8ff (1.11.8-9) (23 BC) [tr. Conington (1872)]

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

In the moment of our talking, envious time has ebb’d away.
Seize the present; trust tomorrow e’en as little as you may.

[Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 11, l. 8ff (1.11.8-9) (23 BC) [tr. Conington (1872)]

Often titled "To Leuconoë." This is the source of the famous phrase, "carpe diem," commonly translated "seize the day." Many scholars give it a more horticultural spin, to harvest the day now, while it is ripe. More discussion here. More quotations along this theme here.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Whilest we are talking, envious Time doth slide:
This day's thine own, the next may be deny'd.
[tr. Sir T. H.; ed. Brome (1666)]

Time, while we speak on't flyes; now banish sorrow,
Live well to day, and never trust to morrow.
[tr. S. W., Esq.; ed. Brome (1666)]

E'en whil'st we speak the Envious time
Doth make swift hast away,
Then seize the present, use thy prime,
Nor trust another Day.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

While we are conversing, envious age has been flying; seize the present day, not giving the least credit to the succeeding one.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

Use all life's powers,
The envious hours
Fly as we talk ; then live to-day,
Nor fondly to to-morrow trust more than you must and may.
[tr. Martin (1864)]

While we talk, grudging Time will be gone, and a part of ourselves be no more.
Seize to-day -- for the morrow it is in which thy belief should be least.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]

Our span is brief. The niggard hour,
in chatting, ebbs away;
Trust nothing for to-morrow's sun:
make harvest of to-day.
[tr. Gladstone (1894)]

E'en while we speak, envious life will fly; --
So make use of to-day, trusting the next, little as possible.
[tr. Phelps (1897)]

While we are talking envious time steals on:
Catch to-day's joy and give the morrow but a minimum of trust.
[tr. Garnsey (1907)]

Ev'n as we speak, grim Time
speeds swift away;
Seize now and here the hour that is. nor trust
some later day!
[tr. Marshall (1908)]

Even while we speak, envious Time has sped. Reap the harvest of to-day, putting as little trust as may be in the morrow!
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912)]

E'en while we speak time, grudging time, has fled; snatch eagerly
Each day, and trust the morrow's grace as little as may be.
[tr. Mills (1924)]

Even while
We talk Time, hateful, runs a mile.
Don't trust tomorrow's bough
For fruit. Pluck this, here, now.
[tr. Michie (1963)]

Time goes running, even
As we talk. Take the present, the future's no one's affair.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]

Now as I say these words,
Time has already fled
Backwards away --
Leuconoe --
Hold on to the day.
[tr. Ferry (1997)]

While we converse, envious time will have vanished: harvest
Today, placing the least credence on what’s to come.
[tr. Willett (1998)]

Even as we speak, envious Time is fleeing.
Seize the day: entrusting as little as possible to tomorrow.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

The envious moment is flying now, now, while we’re speaking:
Seize the day, place in the hours that come as little faith as you can.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

While we are speaking, envious life
will have fled: seize the day, trusting the future as little as possible.
[tr. Wikisource (2021)]

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 2 “The Shadow of the Past” (1954)

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

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 2 “The Shadow of the Past” (1954)
(Source)

Carlyle, Thomas -- Essay (1829-06), “Signs of the Times,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 49, No. 98, Art. 7

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

Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1829-06), “Signs of the Times,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 49, No. 98, Art. 7
(Source)

Review of three 1829 books: Anticipation; or, an Hundred Years Hence; The Rise, Progress, and Present State of Public Opinion in Great Britain; Edward Irvine, The Last Days; or, Discourses on These Our Times.

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Book 1. Gospel of Matthew 6:34 (Matt 6:34) (Jesus) [KJV (1611)]

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

Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

[μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε εἰς τὴν αὔριον, ἡ γὰρ αὔριον μεριμνήσει ἑαυτῆς· ἀρκετὸν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ κακία αὐτῆς.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 1. Gospel of Matthew 6:34 (Matt 6:34) (Jesus) [KJV (1611)]
(Source)

This overall passage (Matt. 6:25-34) is paralleled in Luke 12:22-32, but this particular verse is unique to Matthew.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
[JB (1966)]

So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.
[GNT (1976)]

So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
[NJB (1985)]

Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
[CEB (2011)]

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
[NIV (2011 ed.)]

So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

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

With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think to-day in words as hard as cannon-balls and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
(Source)

Inspired by his reading of Walter Savage Landor in 1833, with passages pulled from his lecture "Individualism," last in his course on "The Philosophy of History" (1836–1837), with other passages from the lectures "School," "Genius," and "Duty" in his course on "Human Life" (1838–1839).