WIST Quotations

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 443 (1820)

Dave — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:09:23 +0000

The whole family of pride and ignorance are incestuous, and mutually beget each other.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780–1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 443 (1820)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 1 “What Makes People Unhappy?” (1930)

Dave — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 16:34:00 +0000

A man may feel so completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a devotee of “pleasure.” That is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive. Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide: the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 1 “What Makes People Unhappy?” (1930)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Merchant of Venice, Act 2, sc. 6, l. 37ff (2.6.37-38) (1597)

Dave — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 17:26:49 +0000

JESSICA: But love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Merchant of Venice, Act 2, sc. 6, l. 37ff (2.6.37-38) (1597)
(Source)

One of several times Shakespeare used the phrase, "Love is blind." He popularized it, but it was first used by Chaucer around 1404 in "The Merchant's Tale" ("For loue is blynd alday ...").

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-03-22), “In Front of Your Nose,” “As I Please” column, Tribune Newspaper

Dave — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:59:11 +0000

To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-03-22), “In Front of Your Nose,” “As I Please” column, Tribune Newspaper
(Source)

Carlyle, Thomas -- (Attributed)

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

The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Attributed)

This phrase is widely attributed to Carlyle, but without any actual citation to his works I could find. The earliest ascription to Carlyle of this phrase seems to be in Fulton Sheen, Peace of Soul, ch. 13 (1949); given the popularity of Sheen's book, if he misquoted and/or misattributed the quotation to Carlyle, the error may have stuck.

It's (also, additionally) possible that this phrase was slightly changed and re-attributed from the words of Engish writer John Ruskin (1819-1900), who considered Carlyle a mentor: "I wonder not so much at what people suffer as what they lose." While, again, I cannot find a primary source for that, it is attributed to Ruskin in Arthur Winnington, A Mission of the Spirit (1906) and in the literary journal The Dial, Vol. 59, No. 706 (1915-11-25).

Goethe, Johann von -- Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893)]

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

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893)]
(Source)

Goethe's use of this phrase comes up twice in the Maxims and Reflections. Other translations:

From Art and Antiquity, Vol. 5, #3, Individual Points (1826):

Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit.
(Source (German))

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.
[tr. Saunders (1893), "Life and Character," sec. 3, #231]

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]

There is nothing more dreadful than active ignorance.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #367]

From Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years (1829):

Auch nichts schrecklicher ist, als die Unwissenheit handeln zu sehen.
(Source(German))

There is no more terrible sight than ignorance in action.
[tr. Saunders (1893), "Life and Character," sec. 1, #52]

There is nothing more terrible than to see ignorance in action.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]

Nothing is more frightful than to see ignorance in action.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #367]

Carlyle, Thomas -- Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London

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

The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)

The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 2 (1841).