WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Hamlet, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 304 (5.2.304) (c. 1600)

Dave — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 18:50:40 +0000

OSRIC: A hit, a very palpable hit.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 304 (5.2.304) (c. 1600)
(Source)

Barrie, James -- Peter Pan, Act 1 (1904, pub. 1928)

Dave — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 18:49:42 +0000

PETER: You mustn’t touch me.
WENDY: Why?
PETER: No one must ever touch me.
WENDY: Why?
PETER: I don’t know.
(He is never touched by any one in the play.)

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 1 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)

These lines are not in Barrie's novelization, Peter and Wendy (1911).

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 6, ¶ 359 (1795) [tr. Dusinberre (1992)]

Dave — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 16:16:07 +0000

Love, such as it exists in high society, is merely an exchange of whims and the contact of skins.

[L’amour, tel qu’il existe dans la société, n’est que l’échange de deux fantaisies et le contact de deux épidermes.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 6, ¶ 359 (1795) [tr. Dusinberre (1992)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Love as it exists in society is nothing more than the exchange of two fancies and the contact of two epidermes.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902)]

Love, as it s practiced in Society, is nothing but the exchange of two caprices and the contact of two skins.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

Love as it exists in society is merely the mingling of two fantasies and the contact of two skins.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

Love as it exists in society is only the exchange of two fantasies and the contact of two epidermises.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- “The Waltz,” l. 230ff (1813)

Dave — Thu, 25 May 2023 14:34:31 +0000

But ye — who never felt a single thought⁠
For what our Morals are to be, or ought;
Who wisely wish the charms you view to reap,
Say — would you make those beauties quite so cheap?
Hot from the hands promiscuously applied,
Round the slight waist, or down the glowing side,
Where were the rapture then to clasp the form
From this lewd grasp and lawless contact warm?

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
“The Waltz,” l. 230ff (1813)
(Source)

The new dance was considered something of a scandal, given its contact between male and female dancers. Published anonymously by Byron.

Buscaglia, Leo -- Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (1992)

Dave — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:55:25 +0000

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Leo Buscaglia (1925-1998) American psychologist, writer
Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (1992)

Arendt, Hannah -- Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Introduction (1977)

Dave — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:36:15 +0000

Nothing we use or hear or touch can be expressed in words that equal what is given by the senses.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Introduction (1977)
(Source)

Originally printed as an essay (1977-11-14), "Thinking -- I," The New Yorker (1977-11-21).

Gaiman, Neil -- American Gods, Part 2, ch. 10 (2001)

Dave — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 16:12:19 +0000

Later, he wondered if he could have changed things, if that gesture would have done any good, if it could have averted any of the harm that was to come. He told himself it wouldn’t. He knew it wouldn’t. But still, afterward, he wished that, just for a moment on that slow flight home, he had touched Wednesday’s hand.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
American Gods, Part 2, ch. 10 (2001)
(Source)