WIST Quotations

Dixon, Norman F. -- On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Part 2, ch. 22 “Authoritarianism” (1976)

Dave — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:37:58 +0000

The values communicated by status-insecure parents are such that their children learn to put personal success and the acquisition of power above all else. They are taught to judge people for their usefulness rather than their likableness. Their friends, and even future marriage partners, are selected and used in the service of personal advancement; love and affection take second place to knowing the right people. They are taught to eschew weaknesses and passivity, to respect authority, and to despise those who have not made the socio-economic grade. Success is equated with social esteem and material advantage, rather than with more spiritual values.

Norman F. Dixon (1922-2013) British cognitive psychologist, author, military engineer
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Part 2, ch. 22 “Authoritarianism” (1976)
(Source)

Doyle, Arthur Conan -- Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 1, ch. 2, Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)

Dave — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 23:03:42 +0000

My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it. […] “But the Solar System!” I protested.
“What the deuce is it to me?” he interrupted impatiently; “you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 1, ch. 2, Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)
(Source)

Watson speaking of and with Holmes. This passage is followed by this one.

Published in novel form 1888-07.

In the Sherlock TV episode 01x03 "The Great Game" (w. Mark Gatiss) (2010-08-08), this explanation is reworked (including this analogous passage):

HOLMES: Look, it doesn't matter to me who's Prime Minister, or who's sleeping with whom --
WATSON: Or that the earth goes around the sun.
HOLMES: Oh God, that again! It's not important!
WATSON: Not important? It's primary school stuff! How can you not know that?
HOLMES: Well, if I ever did, I've deleted it.
WATSON: "Deleted it"?
HOLMES: Listen: (points to his head) This is my hard-drive, and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful. Really useful. Ordinary people fill their heads with all kinds of rubbish, and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters! Do you see?
WATSON: (brief silence) But it's the solar system!
HOLMES: Oh, hell! What does that matter?! So we go around the sun! If we went around the moon or round and round the garden like a teddy bear, it wouldn't make any difference! All that matters to me is the work!

Martin, Judith -- Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 “Basic Civilization,” “Table Manners” (1983)

Dave — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 19:14:12 +0000

Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? […]
Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. But soup knows the difference. Soup is sensitive. You don’t catch steak hanging around when you’re poor and sick, do you? Soup deserves to be treated well.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 “Basic Civilization,” “Table Manners” (1983)
(Source)

Included in the 2005 edition.

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-06-01)

Dave — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 23:10:05 +0000

CALVIN: Miss Wormwood, I have a question about this math lesson.

TEACHER: Yes?

CALVIN: Given that, sooner or later, we’re all just going to die, what’s the point of learning about integers?

TEACHER: Turn to page 83, class.

CALVIN: (sulking) Nobody likes us “big picture” people.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-06-01)
(Source)

Clear, James -- 3-2-1 Newsletter (2025-01-30)

Dave — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 23:29:59 +0000

Beware the student of one teacher. A good idea spirals into dogma when it gets applied to everything and stretched beyond the areas where it is useful. Remain open and embrace a lot of teachers.

James Clear (b. 1986) American author, performance coach, motivational speaker
3-2-1 Newsletter (2025-01-30)
(Source)

See Maslow (1966).

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1739 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 08 May 2025 20:16:03 +0000

A Man of Knowledge like a rich Soil, feeds
If not a world of Corn, a world of Weeds.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1739 ed.)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Heart of the New Thought, “The Object of Life” (1903)

Dave — Wed, 07 May 2025 23:03:36 +0000

To possess character is to be useful, and to be useful is to be independent, and to be useful and independent, is to be happy, even in the midst of sorrow; for sorrow is not necessarily unhappiness.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Heart of the New Thought, “The Object of Life” (1903)
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1882), “Uselessness,” Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)

Dave — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:06:43 +0000

Let mine not be the saddest fate of all,
To live beyond my greater self; to see
My faculties decaying, as the tree
Stands stark and helpless while its green leaves fall.
Let me hear rather the imperious call,
Which all men dread, in my glad morning time,
And follow death ere I have reached my prime,
Or drunk the strengthening cordial of life’s gall.
The lightning’s stroke or the fierce tempest blast
Which fells the green tree to the earth to-day
Is kinder than the calm that lets it last,
Unhappy witness of its own decay.
May no man ever look on me and say,
“She lives, but all her usefulness is past.”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1882), “Uselessness,” Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)

Also collected in Poems of Life (1901) and Poems of Cheer (1910).

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris

Dave — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 22:29:02 +0000

That is why I decline to recognize the mere multimillionaire, the man of mere wealth, as an asset of value to any country, and especially as not an asset to my own country. If he has earned or uses his wealth in a way that makes him of real benefit, of real use — and such is often the case — why, then he does become an asset of worth. But it is the way in which it has been earned or used, and not the mere fact of wealth, that entitles him to the credit.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)

Horace -- Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 1 “Qui fit, Mæcenas,” l. 70ff (1.1.70-75) (35 BC) [tr. Raffel (1983)]

Dave — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 20:44:08 +0000

You sleep, gaping,
On your bags of gold, adore them like hallowed
Relics not meant to be touched, stare as at gorgeous
Canvases. Money is meant to be spent, it buys pleasure:
Did you know that? Bread, vegetables, wine, you can
Buy almost everything it’s hard to live without.

[Congestis undique saccis
indormis inhians et tamquam parcere sacris
cogeris aut pictis tamquam gaudere tabellis.
Nescis, quo valeat nummus, quem praebeat usum?
Panis ematur, holus, vini sextarius, adde
quis humana sibi doleat natura negatis.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 1 “Qui fit, Mæcenas,” l. 70ff (1.1.70-75) (35 BC) [tr. Raffel (1983)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Thy house, the hell, thy good, the flood, which, thoughe it doe not starte,
Nor stirre from thee, yet hath it so in houlde thy servyle hearte,
That though in foysonne full thou swimmes, and rattles in thy bagges,
Yet tost thou arte with dreadefulle dreames, thy mynde it waves and wagges,
And wisheth after greater things, and that, thats woorste of all,
Thou sparst it as an hollye thynge, and doste thy selfe in thralle
Unto thy lowte, and cockescome lyke thou doste but fille thine eye
With that, which shoulde thy porte preserve, and hoyste thyne honor hye.
Thou scannes it, and thou toots upponte, as thoughe it were a warke
By practysde painters hande portrayde with shaddowes suttle darke.
Is this the perfytte ende of coyne? be these the veray vayles
That money hath, to serve thy syghte? fye, fye thy wysedome fayles.
Tharte misse insenste, thou canst not use't, thou wotes not what to do
Withall, by cates, bye breade, bye drincke, in fyne disburse it so,
That nature neede not move her selfe, nor with a betments scant
Distrainte, and prickd passe forth her daye in pyne and pinchinge want.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

Thee,
Who on thy full cramb'd Bags together laid,
Do'st lay thy sleepless and affrighted head;
And do'st no more the moderate use on't dare
To make, then if it consicrated were:
Thou mak'st no other use of all thy gold,
Then men do of their pictures, to behold.
Do'st thou not know the use and power of coyn?
It buys bread, meat, and cloaths, (and what's more wine;)
With all those necessary things beside,
Without which Nature cannot be suppli'd.
[tr. A. B.; ed. Brome (1666)]

Thou watchest o'er thy heaps, yet 'midst thy store
Thou'rt almost starv'd for Want, and still art poor:
You fear to touch as if You rob'd a Saint,
And use no more than if 'twere Gold in paint:
You only know how Wealth may be abus'd,
Not what 'tis good for, how it can be us'd;
'Twill buy Thee Bread, 'twill buy Thee Herbs, and
What ever Nature's Luxury can grant.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

Of thee the tale is told,
With open mouth when dozing o'er your gold.
On every side the numerous bags are pil'd,
Whose hallow'd stores must never be defil'd
To human use ; while you transported gaze,
As if, like pictures, they were form'd to please.
Would you the real use of riches know?
Bread, herbs, and wine are all they can bestow:
Or add, what nature's deepest wants supplies;
This, and no more, thy mass of money buys.
[tr. Francis (1747)]

O'er countless heaps in nicest order stored
You pore agape, and gaze upon the hoard,
As relicks to be laid with reverence by,
Or pictures only meant to please the eye.
With all your cash, you seem not yet to know
Its proper use, or what it can bestow!
"'Twill buy me herbs, a loaf, a pint of wine, --
All, which denied her, nature would repine."
[tr. Howes (1845)]

You sleep upon your bags, heaped up on every side, gaping over them, and are obliged to abstain from them, as if they were consecrated things, or to amuse yourself with them as you would with pictures. Are you ignorant of what value money has, what use it can afford? Bread, herbs, a bottle of wine may be purchased; to which [necessaries], add [such others], as, being withheld, human nature would be uneasy with itself.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

You sleepless gloat o'er bags of money gained from every source, and yet you're forced to touch them not as though tabooed, or else you feel but such delight in them as painting gives the sense. Pray don't you know the good of money to you, or the use it is? You may buy bread and herbs, your pint of wine, and more, all else, which if our nature lacked, it would feel pain.
[tr. Millington (1870)]

Of you the tale is told:
You sleep, mouth open, on your hoarded gold;
Gold that you treat as sacred, dare not use,
In fact, that charms you as a picture does.
Come, will you hear what wealth can fairly do?
'Twill buy you bread, and vegetables too,
And wine, a good pint measure: add to this
Such needful things as flesh and blood would miss.
[tr. Conington (1874)]

You sleep with open mouth on money-bags piled up from all sides, and must perforce keep hands off as if they were hallowed, or take delight in them as if painted pictures. Don't you know what money is for, what end it serves? You may buy bread, greens, a measure of wine, and such other things as would mean pain to our human nature, if withheld.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

You sleep on the sacks
Of money you've scraped up and raked in from everywhere
And, gazing with greed, are still forced to keep your hands off,
As if they were sacred or simply pictures to look at.
Don't you know what money can do, or just why we want it?
It's to buy bread and greens and a pint of wine
And the things that we, being human, can't do without.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

You have money bags amassed from everywhere,
just to sleep and gasp upon. To you they're sacred,
or they're works of art, to be enjoyed only with the eyes.
Don't you know the value of money, what it's used for?
It buys bread, vegetables, a pint of wine and whatever else
a human being needs to survive and not to suffer.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

You sleep with open mouth
on sacks accumulated from everywhere
and are constrained to worship them as sacred things,
or rejoice in them as if they were painted tablets.
Do you not know what money serves for?
How it's to be used? to buy bread, vegetables,
a sixth of wine, other things deprived of which
human nature suffers.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

You sleep open-mouthed on a mound of money
bags but won't touch them; you just stare at them
as if they were a collection of paintings.
What's money for? What can it do? Why not
buy bread, vegetables, what you think's wine enough?
Don't you want what it harms us not to have?
[tr. Matthews (2002)]

You scrape your money-bags together and fall asleep
on top of them with your mouth agape. They must remain unused
like sacred objects, giving no more pleasure than if painted on canvas.
Do you not realize what money is for, what enjoyment it gives?
You can buy bread and vegetables, half a litre of wine,
and the other things which human life can't do without.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

... covetously sleeping on money-bags
Piled around, forced to protect them like sacred objects,
And take pleasure in them as if they were only paintings.
Don’t you know the value of money, what end it serves?
Buy bread with it, cabbages, a pint of wine: all the rest,
Things where denying them us harms our essential nature.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

Carlyle, Thomas -- Past and Present, Book 3, ch. 10 “Plugson of Undershot” (1843)

Dave — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 15:20:01 +0000

Money is miraculous. What miraculous facilities has it yielded, will it yield us; but also what never-imagined confusions, obscurations has it brought in; down almost to total extinction of the moral-sense in large masses of mankind!

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 3, ch. 10 “Plugson of Undershot” (1843)
(Source)

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1737 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 23:29:19 +0000

The Use of Money is all the Advantage there is in having Money.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
(Source)

Thoreau, Henry David -- Letter (1848-03-27) to Harrison Blake

Dave — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 14:02:21 +0000

Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still. Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Letter (1848-03-27) to Harrison Blake
(Source)

Collected in F. B. Sanborn, ed., Familiar Letters (1865),

Russell, Bertrand -- “Is There a God?” (1952)

Dave — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 21:01:08 +0000

However that may be, it is always disastrous when governments set to work to uphold opinions for their utility rather than for their truth. As soon as this is done it becomes necessary to have a censorship to suppress adverse arguments, and it is thought wise to discourage thinking among the young for fear of encouraging “dangerous thoughts.” When such mal-practices are employed against religion as they are in Soviet Russia, the theologians can see that they are bad, but they are still bad when employed in defence of what the theologians think good. Freedom of thought and the habit of giving weight to evidence are matters of far greater moral import than the belief in this or that theological dogma. On all these grounds it cannot be maintained that theological beliefs should be upheld for their usefulness without regard to their truth.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Is There a God?” (1952)
(Source)

Essay commissioned by Illustrated magazine in 1952, but never published there. First publication in Russell, Last Philosophical Testament, 1943-68 (1997) [ed. Slater/Köllner].

Curie, Marie -- “The Discovery of Radium,” lecture, Vassar College (1921-05-14)

Dave — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 17:17:28 +0000

We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity.

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Polish-French physicist and chemist [b. Maria Salomea Skłodowska]
“The Discovery of Radium,” lecture, Vassar College (1921-05-14)
(Source)

La Bruyere, Jean de -- The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 12 “Of Opinions [Des Jugements],” § 17 (12.17) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]

Dave — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 16:05:02 +0000

Nothing reveals more clearly men’s attitude to learning and literature, and what use they think these are to the State, than the low price they put on them, and their opinion of those who have chosen to practice them.

[Rien ne découvre mieux dans quelle disposition sont les hommes à l’égard des sciences et des belles-lettres, et de quelle utilité ils les croient dans la république, que le prix qu’ils y ont mis, et l’idée qu’ils se forment de ceux qui ont pris le parti de les cultiver.]

Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 12 “Of Opinions [Des Jugements],” § 17 (12.17) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Nothing discovers better what disposition men have to Knowledge and Learning, and how profitable they are esteem'd to the Publick, than the price which is set on them, and the Idea they have formed of those who have taken the pains to improve them.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

Nothing discovers better what regard Men have to Science and polite Learning, and how profitable they esteem them to the Publick, than the price they set on them, and the Idea they form to themselves of those who have taken the pains to cultivate them.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

Nothing better manifests the Regard paid to the Sciences and Literature, and Men's Sense of their Utility to the Public, than the Recompences assigned to them, and the Repute in which they stand who excel in them.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

Nothing better demonstrates how men regard science and literature, and of what use they are considered in the State, than the recompense assigned to them, and the idea generally entertained of those persons who resolve to cultivate them.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

Rooney, Andy -- Sincerely, Andy Rooney, Part 15 “Faith in Reason” (1999)

Dave — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 14:25:39 +0000

I’d be more willing to accept religion, even though I don’t believe in it, if I thought it made people nicer to each other, but I don’t think it does.

Andy Rooney (1919-2011) American journalist, commentator, author
Sincerely, Andy Rooney, Part 15 “Faith in Reason” (1999)
(Source)

From a 1989 letter he wrote to his children about religion.

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward George -- Richelieu, Act 3, sc. 1, ll. 49-50 [Richelieu] (1839)

Dave — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 15:22:41 +0000

I have wrought great use out of evil tools.

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
Richelieu, Act 3, sc. 1, ll. 49-50 [Richelieu] (1839)
(Source)

Commager, Henry Steele -- The Nature and Study of History, ch. 5 (1965)

Dave — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 15:02:03 +0000

History, we can confidently assert, is useful in the sense that art and music, poetry and flowers, religion and philosophy are useful. Without it — as with these — life would be poorer and meaner; without it we should be denied some of those intellectual and moral experiences which give meaning and richness to life. Surely it is no accident that the study of history has been the solace of many of the noblest minds of every generation.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
The Nature and Study of History, ch. 5 (1965)
(Source)

Raskin, Jef -- The Humane Interface, 1-5 (2000)

Dave — Tue, 10 May 2022 19:23:56 +0000

Users do not care about what is inside the box, as long as the box does what they need done.

Jef Raskin (1943-2005) American computer scientist, writer
The Humane Interface, 1-5 (2000)
(Source)

Foglio, Phil -- Agatha H. And the Clockwork Princess (2012) [with Kaja Foglio]

Dave — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 18:11:15 +0000

It is true that most madboy devices are built for purely utilitarian purposes: I want to go faster; How can one person stack all of these starfish; I will gain the respect of my peers if I can turn this entire town into ham, and so on. But there are some things that burst forth from their creator’s brain simply because they want to make the world more aesthetically pleasing. So what if it doesn’t help one conquer the world? It looks awesome. It’s Art.

Phil Foglio (b. 1956) American writer, cartoonist
Agatha H. And the Clockwork Princess (2012) [with Kaja Foglio]
(Source)

Frye, Northrop -- Anatomy of Criticism, “Polemical Introduction” (1957)

Dave — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 16:49:27 +0000

Those who are concerned with the arts are often asked questions, not always sympathetic ones, about the use or value of what they are doing. It is probably impossible to answer such questions directly, or at any rate to answer the people who ask them.

Northrop Frye (1912-1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
Anatomy of Criticism, “Polemical Introduction” (1957)
(Source)

Aristotle -- Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 1, ch. 5 (1.5, 1096a.5) (c. 325 BC) [tr. Crisp (2000)]

Dave — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 19:09:48 +0000

The life of making money is a life people are, as it were, forced into, and wealth is clearly not the good we are seeking, since it is merely useful, for getting something else.

[ὁ δὲ χρηματιστὴς βίαιός τις ἐστίν, καὶ ὁ πλοῦτος δῆλον ὅτι οὐ τὸ ζητούμενον ἀγαθόν.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 1, ch. 5 (1.5, 1096a.5) (c. 325 BC) [tr. Crisp (2000)]
(Source)

Rackham notes the term βίαιος (translated under compulsion/constraint) is "literally ‘violent’; the adjective is applied to the strict diet and and laborious exercises of athletes, and to physical phenomena such as motion, in the sense of ‘constrained,’ ‘not natural.’"

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

As for the life of money-making, it is one of constraint, and wealth manifestly is not the good we are seeking, because it is for use, that is, for the sake of something further.
[tr. Chase (1847), ch. 3]

As for the money-getting life, it violates the natural fitness of things. Wealth is clearly not the absolute good of which we are in search, for it is a utility, and nonly desirable as a means.
[tr. Williams (1869)]

The life of money-making is in a sense a life of constraint, and it is clear that wealth is not the good of which we are in quest; for it is useful in part as a means to something else.
[tr. Welldon (1892), ch. 3]

As for the money-making life, it is something quite contrary to nature; and wealth evidently is not the good of which we are in search, for it is merely useful as a means to something else.
[tr. Peters (1893)]

The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else.
[tr. Ross (1908)]

The Life of Money-making is a constrained kind of life, and clearly wealth is not the Good we are in search of, for it is only good as being useful, a means to something else.
[tr. Rackham (1934), 1.5.8]

The life of a moneymaker is in a way forced, and wealth is clearly not the good we are looking for, since it was useful and for the sake of something else.
[tr. Reeve (1948), ch. 5]

As for the life of a money-maker, it is one of tension; and clearly the good sought is not wealth, for wealth is instrumental and is sought for the sake of something else.
[tr. Apostle (1975), ch. 3]

As for the life of the businessman, it does not give him much freedom of action. Besides, wealth is obviously not the good that we are seeking, because it serves only as a means; i.e., for getting something else.
[tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]

The moneymaking life is characterized by a certain constraint, and it is clear that wealth is not the good being sought, for it is a useful thing and for the sake of something else.
[tr. Bartlett/Collins (2011)]

Schopenhauer, Arthur -- Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 2 “Of What One Is” [Von dem, was einer ist]” (1851) [tr. Payne (1974)]

Dave — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 21:08:25 +0000

Ordinary men are intent merely on how to spend their time; a man with any talent is interested in how to use his time.

[Die gewöhnlichen Leute sind bloß darauf bedacht, die Zeit zuzubringen; wer irgend ein Talent hat, — sie zu benutzen.]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 2 “Of What One Is” [Von dem, was einer ist]” (1851) [tr. Payne (1974)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

Ordinary people think merely how they shall spend their time; a man of any talent tries to use it.
[tr. Saunders (1890)]

Von Neumann, John -- “The Role of Mathematics in the Sciences and in Society,” Speech, Princeton (1954)

Dave — Tue, 25 May 2021 14:20:55 +0000

A large part of mathematics which becomes useful developed with absolutely no desire to be useful, and in a situation where nobody could possibly know in what area it would become useful; and there were no general indications that it ever would be so. By and large it is uniformly true in mathematics that there is a time lapse between a mathematical discovery and the moment when it is useful; and that this lapse of time can be anything from thirty to a hundred years, in some cases even more; and that the whole system seems to function without any direction, without any reference to usefulness, and without any desire to do things which are useful.

John von Neumann (1903-1957) Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, inventor, polymath [János "Johann" Lajos Neumann]
“The Role of Mathematics in the Sciences and in Society,” Speech, Princeton (1954)
(Source)

Ruskin, John -- The Stones of Venice, ch. 2 “The Virtues of Architecture,” sec. 17 (1851)

Dave — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:41:50 +0000

Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance; at least I suppose this quill I hold in my hand writes better than a peacock’s would, and the peasants of Vevay, whose fields in spring time are as white with lilies as the Dent du Midi is with its snow, told me the hay was none the better for them.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) English art critic, painter, writer, social thinker
The Stones of Venice, ch. 2 “The Virtues of Architecture,” sec. 17 (1851)
(Source)

Aristotle -- Eudemian Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Εὐδήμεια], Book 7, ch. 2 / 1238a.19-20 [tr. Reeve (2021)]

Dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:44:32 +0000

And bad luck reveals those who are not real friends, but just happen to be so because of utility.

[ἡ δ᾽ ἀτυχία δηλοῖ τοὺς μὴ ὄντως [20] ὄντας φίλους, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον τυχόντας.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Eudemian Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Εὐδήμεια], Book 7, ch. 2 / 1238a.19-20 [tr. Reeve (2021)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends, but friends only for some accidental utility.
[tr. Solomon (1915)]

Misfortune shows those who are not friends really but only because of some casual utility.
[tr. Rackham (1981)]

But misfortune shows those who are friends not really but because of chance utility.
[tr. Simpson (2013)]

Von Neumann, John -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 01:47:44 +0000

In mathematics, you don’t understand things, you just get used to them.

John von Neumann (1903-1957) Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, inventor, polymath [János "Johann" Lajos Neumann]
(Attributed)

The primary source for this comes from Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics (1979), in a footnote on p. 208, related to von Neumann's time working on the H-bomb.

Dr. Felix Smith, Head of Molecular Physics, Stanford Research Institute, once related to me the true story of a physicist friend who worked at Los Alamos after World War II. Seeking help on a difficult problem, he went to the great Hungarian mathematician, John von Neumann, who was at Los Alamos as a consultant.

"Simple," said von Neumann. "The can be solved by using the method of characteristics."

After the explanation, the physicist said, "I'm afraid I don't understand the method of characteristics."

"Young man," said von Neumann, "in mathematics you don't understand things, you just get used to them."

David Wells offers a variant in The Penguin Book of Curious and Interesting Mathematics (1997):

Van Neumann had just about ended his lecture when a student stood up and in a vaguely abashed tone said he hadn't understood the final argument. Von Neumann answered: "Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.

Variant: "Don't worry, young man: in mathematics, none of us really understands any idea -- we just get used to them."

Morris, William -- “The Decorative Arts: Their Relation to Modern Life and Progress,” Lecture (4 Dec 1877)

Dave — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 22:43:57 +0000

To give people pleasure in the things they must perforce use, that is one great office of decoration; to give people pleasure in the things they must perforce make, that is the other use of it.

William Morris (1834-1896) British textile designer, writer, socialist activist
“The Decorative Arts: Their Relation to Modern Life and Progress,” Lecture (4 Dec 1877)
(Source)

Morris' first public lecture. Later published as "The Lesser Arts" in Hopes and Fears for Art (1882).

Morris, William -- “The Beauty of Life,” lecture, Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design (19 Feb 1880)

Dave — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 21:11:31 +0000

Our golden rule: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

William Morris (1834-1896) British textile designer, writer, socialist activist
“The Beauty of Life,” lecture, Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design (19 Feb 1880)
(Source)

Macaulay, Thomas Babington -- “Machiavelli,” Edinburgh Review (Mar 1827)

Dave — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:11:57 +0000

We give the highest and the most peculiar praise to the precepts of Machiavelli, when we say that they may frequently be of real use in regulating conduct — not so much because they are more just, or more profound, than those which might be culled from other authors as because they can be more readily applied to the problems of real life.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
“Machiavelli,” Edinburgh Review (Mar 1827)
(Source)

Review of Œvres complètes de Machiavel, J. V. Perier ed. (1825). Quotations of Machiavelli can be found here.

Watts, Isaac -- Logic on the Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth (1724)

Dave — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 03:36:31 +0000

If the books which you read are your own, mark with a pen or pencil the most considerable things in them which you desire to remember. Then you may read that book the second time over with half the trouble, by your eye running over the paragraphs which your pencil has noted. It is but a very weak objection against this practice to say, I shall spoil my book; for I persuade myself that you did not buy it as a bookseller, to sell again for gain, but as a scholar, to improve your mind by it; and if the mind be improved, your advantage is abundant, through your book yields less money to your executors.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) English theologian and hymnodist
Logic on the Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth (1724)
(Source)

Kubrick, Stanley -- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) [with Arthur C. Clarke]

Dave — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 06:09:19 +0000

HAL9000: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) American film director, screenwriter, producer
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) [with Arthur C. Clarke]

Lorde, Audre -- “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism” (1981)

Dave — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 15:25:56 +0000

My anger has meant pain to me but it has also meant survival, and before I give it up I’m going to be sure that there is something at least as powerful to replace it on the road to clarity.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) American writer, feminist, civil rights activist
“The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism” (1981)
(Source)

Santayana, George -- The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, Vol. 3 “Reason in Religion, ch. 7 (1905-06)

Dave — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:28:13 +0000

Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.

George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, Vol. 3 “Reason in Religion, ch. 7 (1905-06)
(Source)

Leopold, Aldo -- Round River, “Conservation” (1953)

Dave — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:04:09 +0000

The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, “What good is it?” If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.

Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) American conservationist, forester, ecologist
Round River, “Conservation” (1953)
(Source)

Adams, Douglas -- The Salmon of Doubt, Part 2 “The Universe,” Aside (2002) [ed. Peter Guzzardi]

Dave — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:37:17 +0000

We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
The Salmon of Doubt, Part 2 “The Universe,” Aside (2002) [ed. Peter Guzzardi]
(Source)

Box, George E. P. -- Empirical Model Building and Response Surfaces (1987) [with N. R. Draper]

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

Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful.

George E. P. Box (1919-2013) Anglo-American statistician, quality scientist [George Edward Pelham Box]
Empirical Model Building and Response Surfaces (1987) [with N. R. Draper]

As written on p. 424; earlier in the book (p. 74), it is given as: "Remember that all models are wrong; the practical question is how wrong do they have to be to not be useful."

Picasso, Pablo -- (Attributed)

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

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.

[Los ordenadores son inútiles. Sólo pueden darte respuestas.]

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
(Attributed)

The above is a later paraphrase of the original attribution, in William Fifield, "Pablo Picasso: A Composite Interview," The Paris Review (Summer/Fall 1964):

I feel I am nibbling on the edges of this world when I am capable of getting what Picasso means when he says to me -- perfectly straight-facedly -- later of the enormous new mechanical brains or calculating machines: "But they are useless. They can only give you answers." How easy and comforting to take these things for jokes -- boutades!

Fifield later included the comment from Picasso twice in his In Search of Genius (1982):

He said contemptuously: "What good are computers? They can only give you answers."
[ch. 1 "Picasso, Dali, Miro, Graves, and Others"]

I feel I am nibbling on the edges of this when I am capable of getting what Picasso means when he says to me – with a perfectly straight face – of computes: “But they are useless. They can only give you answers.” How easy and comforting to take these things for jokes!
[ch. 2 "Picasso"]

The latter quote (just the words by Picasso) was highlighted in the New York Times review of the book the following year, providing the publicity for the quotation, and versions with "Computers" substituted for "But they" become frequent thereafter.

More discussion of the quotation here: Computers Are Useless. They Can Only Give You Answers – Quote Investigator®.

Bacon, Francis -- “Of Riches,” Essays, No. 34 (1625)

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

Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Riches,” Essays, No. 34 (1625)
(Source)

Also attributed to Benjamin Franklin.

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-07-03)

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

CALVIN: The only skills I have the patience to learn are those that have no real application in life.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-07-03)
(Source)

After performing a series of tricks with a yo-yo.

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1817-01-11) to John Adams

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

Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1817-01-11) to John Adams
(Source)

Instructions he gave to a biographer.

Amiel, Henri-Frédéric -- Entry, Journal (15 Nov 1876)

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

A belief is not true because it is useful.

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Entry, Journal (15 Nov 1876)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 3ff (4.1.3-12) (1599)

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

HENRY: God almighty,
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distill it out.
For our bad neighbor makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthful and good husbandry.
Besides, they are our outward consciences
And preachers to us all, admonishing
That we should dress us fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed
And make a moral of the devil himself.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 3ff (4.1.3-12) (1599)
(Source)

See Spencer.

Sandburg, Carl -- Remembrance Rock, ch. 2 (1948)

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

A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) American poet, biographer
Remembrance Rock, ch. 2 (1948)
(Source)

Orville Brand "Bowbong" Windom speaking to his grandson, Raymond. Sometimes misquoted as "A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on."

While popular in its own right, the broader context of the quotation is also worth noting. Windom is recounting a story of a man criticized for sleeping through a play he was supposed to be reviewing, who said, "Sleep is an opinion." Windom continues:

And a baby is God's opinion that life should go on. A book that does nothing to you is dead. A baby, whether it does anything to you, represents life. If a bad fire should break out in this house and I had my choice of saving the library or the babies, I would save what is alive. Never will a time come when the most marvelous recent invention is as marvelous as a newborn baby. The finest of our precision watches, the most super-colossal of our supercargo planes, don’t compare with a newborn baby in the number and ingenuity of coils and springs, in the flow and change of chemical solutions, in timing devices and interrelated parts that are irreplaceable. A baby is very modern. Yet it is also the oldest of the ancients. A baby doesn’t know he is a hoary and venerable antique -- but he is. Before man learned how to make an alphabet, how to make a wheel, how to make a fire, he knew how to make a baby -- with the great help of woman, and his God and Maker.

Montesquieu -- Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 29, ch. 16 (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]

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

As useless laws weaken necessary laws, those that can be evaded weaken legislation.

[Comme les lois inutiles affaiblissent les lois nécessaires, celles qu’on peut éluder affaiblissent la législation.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 29, ch. 16 (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

As useless laws debilitate such as are necessary, so those that may be easily eluded weaken the legislation.
[tr. Nugent (1750)]

As needless laws weaken necessary laws, laws that can be eluded weaken legislation.
[tr. Stewart (2018)]

Variant: "Useless laws weaken the necessary laws."

The same thought, that "Useless laws weaken necessary laws [Les loix inutiles affaiblissent celles qui sont les necessaires.]" also is recorded in his Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 630 / 1007 "General Maxims of Politics," No. 6 (1720-1755). Variant: "Les loix inutiles affaiblissent les necessaires."

Other translations of that work:

Useless laws debilitate such as are necessary.
[ed. Guterman (1963)]

Useless laws weaken necessary ones.
[tr. Clark (2012)]