WIST Quotations

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado

Dave — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 23:04:24 +0000

Does any intelligent man now believe that God made man of dust, and woman of a rib, and put them in a garden, and put a tree in the midst of it? Was there not room outside of the garden to put his tree, if he did not want people to eat his apples?
If I did not want a man to eat my fruit, I would not put him in my orchard.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado
(Source)

Published as its own book in 1884.

Virgil -- Eclogues [Eclogae, Bucolics, Pastorals], No. 9 “Lycidas and Moeris,” l. 50 (9.50) (42-38 BC) [tr. Rieu (1949)]

Dave — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 04:30:14 +0000

Graft your pears, Daphnis, now; your children’s children will enjoy the fruit.

[Insere, Daphni, piros: carpent tua poma nepotes.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
Eclogues [Eclogae, Bucolics, Pastorals], No. 9 “Lycidas and Moeris,” l. 50 (9.50) (42-38 BC) [tr. Rieu (1949)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Daphnis set pears, thy race shall fruit injoy.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

Under this influence, graft the tender Shoot;
Thy Childrens Children shall enjoy the Fruit.
[tr. Dryden (1709), ll. 68-69]

Plant, Daphnis, for the rising race thy pears.
[tr. Wrangham (1830), l. 59]

Daphnis, plant thy pear-trees. Posterity shall pluck the fruit of thy plantations.
[tr. Davidson (1854)]

Sow, Daphnis, pears, whereof thy sons shall eat.
[tr. Calverley (c. 1871)]

Engraft your peartrees, Daphnis; your children's children shall enjoy their fruits.
[tr. Wilkins (1873)]

Graft, Daphnis, graft thy trees, nor fear
Thy sons shall all the produce share.
[tr. King (1882), ll. 897-898]

You may graft new rows
Of pears; your progeny will shake the boughs.
[tr. Palmer (1883)]

Now, the pears;
so shall your children's children pluck their fruit.
[tr. Greenough (1895)]

Daphnis, plant your pear-trees. Posterity will pluck the fruit due to your care.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]

Engraft thy pear-trees, Daphnis; thy children's children shall pluck their fruit.
[tr. Mackail (1899)]

Now, Daphnis, graft
Thy pear trees, that thy children's children may
Eat of their fruit.
[tr. Mackail/Cardew (1908)]

Go, Daphnis, graft thy pears!
Sons of thy sons shall gather them in joy.
[tr. Williams (1915)]

Graft you pears, Daphnis; your children’s children shall gather the fruits you have sown.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1916)]

Daphnis, engraft thy pears, for thee, thy sons,
And their seed after them.
[tr. Royds (1922)]

Daphnis, graft you pears; your children's children
Shall pluck them in peace.
[tr. Johnson (1960)]

Daphnis, graft your pears now: your sons’ sons will enjoy them.
[tr. Day Lewis (1963)]

Daphnis, plant your pear trees ... years from now
The children of your children will gather the pears ...
[tr. Ferry (1999)]

Graft
your pears, Daphnis: your grandchildren will gather their fruit.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

Augustine of Hippo -- Confessions, Book 5, ch. 4 / ¶ 7 (5.4.7) (c. AD 398) [tr. Warner (1963)]

Dave — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 03:57:25 +0000

The man who consciously owns a tree and knows how to use it and gives you thanks for it may not know its exact height or how widely the branches spread; but he is better off than the man who, while he has measured the tree and counted all its branches, neither owns it nor knows and loves its creator.

[Sicut enim melior est qui novit possidere arborem et de usu eius tibi gratias agit, quamvis nesciat vel quot cubitis alta sit vel quanta latitudine diffusa, quam ille qui eam metitur et omnes ramos eius numerat et neque possidet eam neque creatorem eius novit aut diligit.]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
Confessions, Book 5, ch. 4 / ¶ 7 (5.4.7) (c. AD 398) [tr. Warner (1963)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For as he is better off who knows how to possess a tree, and return thanks to Thee for the use thereof, although he know not how many cubits high it is, or how wide it spreads, than he that can measure it, and count all its boughs, and neither owns it, nor knows or loves its Creator.
[tr. Pusey (1838)]

But as he is happier who knows how to possess a tree, and for the use thereof renders thanks to Thee, although he may not know how many cubits high it is, or how wide it spreads, than he that measures it and counts all its branches, and neither owns it nor knows or loves its Creator.
[tr. Pilkington (1876)]

For as he is better off who knows how to possess a tree, and gives thanks for its use, though he knows not its height or breadth, than he who has accurate knowledge of its dimensions , and the number of its boughs, and yet does not own it, and neither knows nor loves its Creator.
[tr. Hutchings (1890)]

For as he who knows that he owns a tree, and gives thanks to thee for its use, although he knows not how many feet high it is, or how wide it spreads, is better than he who measures it and counts all its branches, yet neither owns it nor knows nor loves its Creator.
[tr. Bigg (1897), 5.4.2]

For just as he is better who knows he possesses a tree and gives thanks to You for the use it is to him, although he does not know how many cubits high it is or the width of its spread, than another man who can measure it and number its branches but neither possesses it nor knows and loves Him who created it.
[tr. Sheed (1943)]

For just as that man who knows how to possess a tree, and give thanks to thee for the use of it -- although he may not know how many feet high it is or how wide it spreads -- is better than the man who can measure it and count all its branches, but neither owns it nor knows or loves its Creator.
[tr. Outler (1955)]

A man who knows that he owns a tree, and gives thanks to you for its fruit, even though he may not know how many cubits high it is or how wide it spreads, is better than one who measures it and counts all its branches, but does not own it and does not know or love its creator.
[tr. Ryan (1960)]

A man who knows that he owns a tree and thanks you for the use he has of it, even though he does not know its exact height or the width of its spread, is better than another who measures it and counts all its branches, but neither owns it nor knows and loves its Creator.
[tr. Pine-Coffin (1961)]

For example, he is the better man who knows how to own a tree and thanks you for its usefulness, though he does not know how many cubits high it is, or how broad its spread, than the man who measures it, counts its branches, but never calls it his own or esteems the one who made it.
[tr. Blaiklock (1983)]

Someone who knows enough to become the owner of a tree, and gives thanks to you for the benefits it brings him, is in a better state, even if ignorant of its height in feet and the extent of its spread, than another who measures and counts all its branches but neither owns it nor knows its creator nor loves him.
[tr. Boulding (1997)]

Wilde, Larry -- The Merry Book of Christmas

Dave — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 20:30:34 +0000

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all thirty feet tall.

Larry Wilde (b. 1928) American humorist, actor, speaker, publisher [b. Herman Wildman]
The Merry Book of Christmas

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Poem (1858-09), “The Deacon’s Masterpiece,” Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 4

Dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 13:54:19 +0000

Little of all we value here
Wakes on the morn of its hundredth year
Without both feeling and looking queer.
In fact, there’s nothing that keeps its youth,
So far as I know, but a tree and truth.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Poem (1858-09), “The Deacon’s Masterpiece,” Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 4
(Source)

The poem appears in the middle of an installment of "Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table", collected in Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, ch. 11 (1858).