WIST Quotations

Carlyle, Thomas -- Lecture (1840-05-22), “The Hero as King,” Home House, Portman Square, London

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 16:11:06 +0000

Dupes indeed are many: but, of all dupes, there is none so fatally situated as he who lives in undue terror of being duped.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-22), “The Hero as King,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)

The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 6 (1841).

Baudelaire, Charles -- Le Spleen de Paris (Petits Poèmes en Prose), No. 29 “The Generous Gambler [Le Joueur généreux]” (1869) [tr. Kaplan (1989)]

Dave — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:09:23 +0000

My dear brothers, when you hear the progress of enlightenment extolled, never forget that the devil’s cleverest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist!

[Mes chers frères, n’oubliez jamais, quand vous entendrez vanter le progrès des lumières, que la plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu’il n’existe pas!]

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic
Le Spleen de Paris (Petits Poèmes en Prose), No. 29 “The Generous Gambler [Le Joueur généreux]” (1869) [tr. Kaplan (1989)]
(Source)

A warning by a Parisian preacher, as reported by the Devil himself. Used in movie The Usual Suspects (1995) as "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

My dear brethren, never forget, when you hear the progress of wisdom vaunted, that the cleverest ruse of the Devil is to persuade you he does not exist!
[tr. Shipley (<1919) "The Generous Player"]

My dear brethren, never forget, when you hear boasts about the progress of enlightenment, that the finest ruse of the devil is to persuade you that he does not exist!
[tr. Hamburger (1946) "The Generous Gamester"]

My dear brothers, never forget when you hear people boast of our progress in enlightenment, that one of the devil's best ruses is to persuade you that he does not exist!
[tr. Varèse (1970)]

The Devil's subtlest ruse is to convince us that he doesn't exist.
[tr. McGowan (1993)]

Dear brethren, never forget that the finest of all the devil's tricks is to persuade you that he doesn't exist.
[tr. Lerner (2003)]

My dear brethren, do not ever forget, when you hear the progress of lights praised, that the loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist!
[Source]

Archilochus -- Fragment 201

Dave — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 18:50:20 +0000

The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

[πόλλ’ οἶδ’ ἀλώπηξ, ἐχῖνος δ’ἓν μέγα]

Archilochus (c. 680-645 BC) Greek lyric poet and mercenary [Ἀρχίλοχος, Archilochos, Arkhilokhus]
Fragment 201
(Source)

As quoted in Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and the Fox (1953). The fragment is found in a group of proverbs collected by Zenobius. Alt. trans.:

The fox knows many things; the hedgehog one great thing.
The fox knows many tricks; the hedgehog one good one.
The fox knows many tricks; and the hedgehog only one; but that is the best one of all.
Fox knows many, Hedgehog one solid trick.
Fox knows tricks and still gets caught; Hedgehog knows one but it always works. (Source)

Merton, Thomas -- Contemplative Prayer (1973)

Dave — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:56:23 +0000

In meditation we should not look for a “method” or “system,” but cultivate an “attitude,” and “outlook”: faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, and joy.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
Contemplative Prayer (1973)

Polybius -- Histories, 9.12 [tr. Paton (1925)]

Dave — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 12:44:15 +0000

In military operations what is done openly and by force is much less than what is done by stratagem and the use of opportunity.

Polybius (203?-120 BC) Greek historian
Histories, 9.12 [tr. Paton (1925)]

Machiavelli, Niccolo -- The Discourses on Livy, Book 3, ch. 48 (1517) [tr. Detmold (1882)]

Dave — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:35:21 +0000

Any manifest error on the part of an enemy should make us suspect some stratagem.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) Italian politician, philosopher, political scientist
The Discourses on Livy, Book 3, ch. 48 (1517) [tr. Detmold (1882)]

Shakespeare, William -- As You Like It, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 53ff (2.4.53) (1599)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:48:55 +0000

TOUCHSTONE: We that are true lovers run into strange capers.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
As You Like It, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 53ff (2.4.53) (1599)
(Source)

Harris, Joel Chandler -- Legends of the Old Plantation, “How Mr. Rabbit was too sharp for Mr. Fox” (1886)

Dave — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:39:47 +0000

“I don’t keer w’at you do wid me, Brer Fox,” sezee, “so you don’t fling me in dat brier-patch. Roas’ me, Brer Fox” sezee, “but don’t fling me in dat brier-patch,” sezee.

Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908) American writer
Legends of the Old Plantation, “How Mr. Rabbit was too sharp for Mr. Fox” (1886)

Lincoln, Abraham -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:55:26 +0000

You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
(Attributed)

A possible precursor to this quote is the widely-republished Jacques Abbadie, "Treatise on the Truth of the Christian Religion [Traité de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne]," ch. 2 (1684):

… ont pû tromper quelques hommes, ou les tromper tous dans certains lieux & en certains tems, mais non pas tous les hommes, dans tous les lieux & dans tous les siécles.

[One can fool some men, or fool all men in some places and times, but one cannot fool all men in all places and ages.]

A similar passage was used in Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert, ed., Encyclopédie: ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, Vol. 4 (1754).

An early English version came from a speech by William J. Groo to a convention of Prohibitionists; the newspaper recording of it does not include any attribution by Groo to anyone else:

You can fool all the people part of the time, or you can fool some people all the time, but you cannot fool all people all the time.

First attributed to Lincoln by Fred F. Wheeler, interviewed in the Albany Times (1886-03-08): "You can fool part of the people some of the time, you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time."

First cited in detail in Alexander K. McClure, “Abe” Lincoln’s Yarns and Stories, (1904), in the above form; it was cited as a Lincoln speech in Clinton, Ill. (1858-09-02), but the passage is not found in any surviving Lincoln documents. No Lincoln reference is found in contemporary writings.

Also attributed to P.T. Barnum and Bob Dylan. See also Lawrence J. Peter.

More detailed discussion of the quotation and its origins can be found here:

McQuarrie, Christopher -- The Usual Suspects [Kint] (1995)

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

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.

Christopher McQuarrie (b. 1968) American screenwriter, director
The Usual Suspects [Kint] (1995)

Kint gives this line twice: first about an hour into the movie, and second as one of its final lines.

See Baudelaire.