WIST Quotations

Milne, A. A. -- Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 1 “We Are Introduced” (1926)

Dave — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:00:37 +0000

Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think about it.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 1 “We Are Introduced” (1926)
(Source)

Opening lines of the book. Art by E H Shepard.

Effinger, George -- Poem (1972), “Things Go Better, Orbit 11 [ed. Damon Knight]

Dave — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 16:30:23 +0000

What we’re here for
is death
Somebody accidentally
wound us up
(“I told you
to leave that alone”)
and we must
wait
to run down.

George Alec Effinger (1947-2002) American author [a.k.a. O. Neimand, Susan Doenim]
Poem (1972), “Things Go Better, Orbit 11 [ed. Damon Knight]
(Source)

Collected in Effinger, Mixed Feelings (1974).

Bear, Elizabeth -- Ancestral Night (2019)

Dave — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 23:40:56 +0000

Maybe all obligate carnivores are essentially the same. Can I eat that? Is it going to eat me? Is it a toy?

Elizabeth Bear (b. 1971) American author [pseud. for Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky]
Ancestral Night (2019)
(Source)

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-01)

Dave — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 14:36:36 +0000

To give a little girl a doll that is not to be used any more than the old-fashioned parlor was used is to violate every principle of fair dealing in childhood.

Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1948-01)
(Source)

Milne, A. A. -- House at Pooh Corner, ch. 10 “An Enchanted Place” (1928)

Dave — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 16:26:53 +0000

He laughed and jumped to his feet. “Come on!”
“Where?” said Pooh.
“Anywhere,” said Christopher Robin.
So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 10 “An Enchanted Place” (1928)
(Source)

Forbes, Malcolm -- The Sayings of Chairman Malcolm, “Simple Truths” (1978)

Dave — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:22:37 +0000

The difference between men and boys
Is the price of their toys.

Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American billionaire
The Sayings of Chairman Malcolm, “Simple Truths” (1978)

Also attributed to Liberace, J. T. Russell, Joyce Brothers, Mark Twain, Doris Rowland, and Dorothy Parker. The phrase can be found in this form in Millard Dale Baughman, Educator's Handbook of Stories, Quotes and Humor (1963), and in 1964 Senate testimony.

For a likely predecessor, see Franklin.