WIST Quotations

Euripides -- Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 338ff (412 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1954)]

Dave — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 21:05:05 +0000

CHORUS:But why
Be sure of the worst, and weep too soon?

[ΧΟΡΟΣ: μὴ πρόμαντις ἀλγέων
προλάμβαν᾽, ὦ φίλα, γόους.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 338ff (412 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1954)]
(Source)

Counseling Helen not to catastrophize about her fate or that of her husband until she has talked with the prophetess Theonoë.

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

Do not, dear lady, do not thus, in thought
Presaging ill, anticipate thy griefs.
[tr. Potter (1783), l. 370ff]

Forbear these plaintive strains, my dearest queen,
Nor with presaging soul anticipate
Evils to come.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Do not, O dear one, anticipate lamentations like a prophetess of woes.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

Do not be a prophetess of sorrow, dear friend, anticipating lamentation.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Nay, forestall not, O friend, lamentation
Prophetic of grief.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]

Lady, till the truth appear,
Gentle lady, grieve not so.
Weep not till you know.
[tr. Sheppard (1925)]

Do not anticipate your grief,
dear lady, do not cry before you know.
[tr. Warner (1951)]

Do not be prophetic of grief.
Do not, dear, anticipate sorrow.
[tr. Lattimore (1956)]

Dear lady, do not prophesy sorrow yet nor weep too soon!
[tr. Davie (2002)]

Dear mistress mine, be not a prophetess of sorrow, forestalling lamentation.
[tr. Athenian Society (2006)]

Wait till you're certain, don't jump to conclusions.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]

Why prophesy grief, Helen?
Why cry before you have to?
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]

As a prophetess of woe
do not, my dear, lament too soon.
[tr. Ambrose et al. (2018)]

Do not be a prophetess of sorrow, dear friend [phila], anticipating lamentation.
[tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]

Jacobs, Joseph -- Dark Age Ahead, “Notes and Comments” (2004)

Dave — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:05:43 +0000

I have learned yet again (this has been going on all my life) what folly it is to take anything for granted without examining it skeptically.

Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916) Australian folklorist, literary critic, historian writer
Dark Age Ahead, “Notes and Comments” (2004)
(Source)

Deming, W. Edwards -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 22:30:47 +0000

In God we trust. All others must bring data.

W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) American management consultant, educator
(Misattributed)

Variants: "All others must have/provide data."

Frequently attributed to Deming, probably through Mary Walton, The Deming Management Method, ch. 20 (1986), though it is presented there without attribution: "'In God we trust. All others must bring data.' If there is a credo for statisticians, it is that."

The earliest appearance in print comes from Edwin R. Fisher, Effect of Smoking on Nonsmokers: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Tobacco of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session (7 Sep 1978): "I should like to close by citing a well-recognized cliche in scientific circles. The cliche is, 'In God we trust, others must provide data.'"

For more discussion see here.

Russell, Bertrand -- “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,” Unpopular Essays (1950)

Dave — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:17:44 +0000

To avoid the various foolish opinions to which mankind are prone, no superhuman genius is required. A few simple rules will keep you, not from all error, but from silly error. If the matter is one that can be settled by observation, make the observation yourself. Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted. He did not do so because he thought he knew. Thinking that you know when in fact you don’t is a fatal mistake, to which we are all prone. I believe myself that hedgehogs eat black beetles, because I have been told that they do; but if I were writing a book on the habits of hedgehogs, I should not commit myself until I had seen one enjoying this unappetizing diet.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,” Unpopular Essays (1950)

Churchill, Winston -- The Second World War, Vol. 4: The Hinge of Fate (1951)

Dave — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:20:17 +0000

I am reminded of the professor who, in his declining hours, was asked by his devoted pupils for his final counsel. He replied, “Verify your quotations.”

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
The Second World War, Vol. 4: The Hinge of Fate (1951)
(Source)