WIST Quotations

Gompers, Samuel -- Speech (1890-05-01), “What Does the Working Man Want,” American Federation of Labor Convention, Louisville, Kentucky

Dave — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 05:38:20 +0000

We have been accused of being selfish, and it has been said that we will want more; that last year we got an advance of ten cents and now we want more. We do want more. You will find that a man generally wants more. Go and ask a tramp what he wants, and if he doesn’t want a drink he will want a good, square meal. You ask a workingman, who is getting two dollars a day, and he will say that he wants ten cents more. Ask a man who gets five dollars a day and he will want fifty cents more. The man who receives five thousand dollars a year wants six thousand a year, and the man who owns eight or nine hundred thousand dollars will want a hundred thousand dollars to make it a million, while the man who has his millions will want everything he can lay his hands on and then raise his voice against the poor devil who wants ten cents more a day.

Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) British-American cigar maker, activist, labor leader [b. Samuel Gumpertz]
Speech (1890-05-01), “What Does the Working Man Want,” American Federation of Labor Convention, Louisville, Kentucky
(Source)

Carlyle, Thomas -- Past and Present, Book 1, ch. 3 “Manchester Insurrection” (1843)

Dave — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 21:22:54 +0000

“A fair day’s-wages for a fair day’s-work:” it is as just a demand as Governed men ever made of Governing. It is the everlasting right of man. Indisputable as Gospels, as arithmetical multiplication-tables: it must and will have itself fulfilled.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 1, ch. 3 “Manchester Insurrection” (1843)
(Source)

Greene, Peter -- “Florida’s Teacher Gap Is No Mystery,” Huffington Post (21 Nov 2017)

Dave — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 19:00:32 +0000

Of course, somehow, these champions of free market, these lovers of the invisible hand, cannot figure out that if people won’t sell you a good or service under the terms you set, free market competition demands that you offer better terms and conditions. It’s as simple as that. If you can’t buy a Porsche for $1.98, that doesn’t mean there’s an automobile shortage.

Peter Greene (contemp.) American teacher, blogger
“Florida’s Teacher Gap Is No Mystery,” Huffington Post (21 Nov 2017)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas

Dave — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:31:51 +0000

No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of labor short enough so that after his day’s work is done he will have time and energy to bear his share in the management of the community, to help in carrying the general load. We keep countless men from being good citizens by the conditions of life with which we surround them.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
(Source)

Thoreau, Henry David -- Essay (1863-10), “Life without Principle,” Atlantic Monthly, No. 72

Dave — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:24:41 +0000

This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle! I am awaked almost every night by the panting of the locomotive. It interrupts my dreams. There is no sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work. I cannot easily buy a blank-book to write thoughts in; they are commonly ruled for dollars and cents. An Irishman, seeing me making a minute in the fields, took it for granted that I was calculating my wages. If a man was tossed out of a window when an infant, and so made a cripple for life, or scared out of his wits by the Indians, it is regretted chiefly because he was thus incapacitated for — business! I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1863-10), “Life without Principle,” Atlantic Monthly, No. 72
(Source)

Based his lecture (1854-12-06) "What Shall It Profit?" Railroad Hall, Providence, Rhode Island. He had edited it for publication before his death, and it was published posthumously.

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 “Life” (1912)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 “Life” (1912)
(Source)