WIST Quotations

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 2, ch. 1 (2.1), “Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions [De l’inconstance de nos actions]” (1572) [tr. Zeitlin (1934)]

Dave — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:17:47 +0000

No wind serves him who has no port of destination.

[Nul vent fait pour celuy qui n’a point de port destiné. ]

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 1 (2.1), “Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions [De l’inconstance de nos actions]” (1572) [tr. Zeitlin (1934)]

This passage was in the essays initial 1580 printing. Likely from a quotation of Seneca the Younger (1st C AD).

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

No winde makes for him, that hath no intended port to saile-unto.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

No helpe serves him that runnes uncertain courses (or knows not where to end them).
[tr. Cotgrave (1611)]

No wind serves him who is bound to no certain port.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

No wind is fair for him who has no purposed port.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

No wind works for the man who has no port of destination.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

No wind is right for a seaman who has no predetermined harbour.
[tr. Screech (1987)]

De Stael, Germaine -- Quoted in Margaret Goldsmith, Madame de Staël (1938)

Dave — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 19:39:38 +0000

A voyage without companionship, that is to say without conversation, is one of the saddest pleasures of life.

Germaine de Staël (1766–1817) Swiss-French writer, woman of letters, critic, salonist [Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, Madame de Staël, Madame Necker]
Quoted in Margaret Goldsmith, Madame de Staël (1938)

See also here.

Sarton, May -- “Now Voyager”

Dave — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 15:18:17 +0000

Where music thundered let the mind be still,
Where the will triumphed let there be no will,
What light revealed, now let the dark fulfill.

May Sarton (1912–1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]
“Now Voyager”

First published in The Lion and the Rose, Part 3 (1948).

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #203 (24 Nov 1749)

Dave — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:53:31 +0000

Caesar, when embarking in a storm, said that it was not necessary he should live, but that it was absolutely necessary he should get to the place to which he was going.

Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #203 (24 Nov 1749)