WIST Quotations

Adams, Abigail -- Letter to John Quincy Adams (16 Feb 1786)

Dave — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 21:38:26 +0000

Would that my ability was equal to my inclination.

Abigail Adams (1744-1818) American correspondent, First Lady (1797-1801)
Letter to John Quincy Adams (16 Feb 1786)
(Source)

Jung, Carl -- Modern Man in Search of a Soul, ch. 3 [tr. Dell & Baynes (1933)]

Dave — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 16:55:16 +0000

We are susceptible only to those suggestions with which we are already secretly in accord.

Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
Modern Man in Search of a Soul, ch. 3 [tr. Dell & Baynes (1933)]

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Book 1. Gospel of Matthew 26:41 (Matt 26:41) (Jesus) [JB (1966)]

Dave — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 13:10:58 +0000

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

[τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα πρόθυμον ἡ δὲ σὰρξ ἀσθενής.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 1. Gospel of Matthew 26:41 (Matt 26:41) (Jesus) [JB (1966)]
(Source)

Chiding Peter, John, and James for falling asleep. This passage is paralleled in Mark 14:38.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
[KJV (1611)]

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
[GNT (1976)]

The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak.
[NJB (1985)]

The spirit is eager, but the flesh is weak.
[CEB (2011)]

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Buck, Pearl S. -- To My Daughters, with Love, ch. 15 “Men and Women” (1967)

Dave — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 14:13:14 +0000

To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind.

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
To My Daughters, with Love, ch. 15 “Men and Women” (1967)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 1, paid advertisment, New York Times

Dave — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:06:48 +0000

The National Security Strategy defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against innocents” (p. 5). This is truly a distinct kind of violence, but to imply by the word “terrorism” that this sort of terror is the work exclusively of “terrorists” is misleading. The “legitimate” warfare of technologically advanced nations likewise is premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against innocents. The distinction between the intention to perpetrate violence against innocents, as in “terrorism,” and the willingness to do so, as in “war,” is not a source of comfort.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 1, paid advertisment, New York Times
(Source)

The essay, including this passage, was also published in a longer form in Orion Magazine (2003-03/04), and collected in his Citizenship Papers (2003). In the latter, the second sentence is extended:

This is truly a distinct kind of violence, but it is a kind old and familiar, even in the United States. All that was really new about the events of September 11, 2001, was that they raised the scale of such violence to that of "legitimate" modern warfare. To imply ...

Quintilian, Marcus Fabius -- De Institutione Oratoria, Book 3, ch. 8

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

Study depends on the good will of the student, a quality that cannot be secured by compulsion.

[Studium discendi voluntate, quae cogi non potest, constat.]

Quintilian (39-90) Roman orator [Marcus Fabius Quintilianus]
De Institutione Oratoria, Book 3, ch. 8