WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 129ff (1.1.120-130) (1598)

Dave — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 16:16:43 +0000

BEATRICE: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 129ff (1.1.120-130) (1598)
(Source)

Martial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 5, epigram 83 (5.83) (AD 90) [tr. McLean (2014)]

Dave — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 23:06:40 +0000

I flee you, Dindymus, when chased; I chase you when you flee.
It’s not your wanting me I want; it’s your not wanting me.

[Insequeris, fugio; fugis, insequor; haec mihi mens est:
Velle tuum nolo, Dindyme, nolle volo.]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 5, epigram 83 (5.83) (AD 90) [tr. McLean (2014)]
(Source)

"To Dindymus." (Source (Latin)). Other translations:

I fly, you follow; fly when I pursue:
What I love, hate; what hated, loved by you.
[tr. Wright (1663)]

You pursue, I fly; you fly, I pursue; such is my Humour. What you wish, Dindymus, I do not wish; what you do not wish, I do.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

You pursue me, I fly; you fly, I follow. Such is your mind; your willingness I reject, Dindymus, your coyness I prize.
[tr. Ker (1919)]

Follow, and I shall flee,
Fly, I shall follow thee;
Such is the bent
Of love’s perversity;
Denial draweth me,
But not assent.
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921), "The Old Story"]

You follow, I flee; you flee, I follow.
That's the way it goes.
I hate your yesses, Dindymus,
I much prefer your noes.
[tr. Marcellino (1968)]

I run, you chase; you chase, I run.
I love what's cold: what's hot I shun.
[tr. Whigham (1987)]

You're hot to trot? Well then I'm not.
You've cooled? I'm ardent on the spot.
What's going on? Don't sulk, my pet:
I like you best as hard to get.
[tr. Matthews (1992)]

You pursue, I fly; you fly, I pursue. This is the way I am. Your wishing, Dindymus, I wish not; your wishing not I wish.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

You chase, I flee; you flee, I chase; it’s how I am:
what you wish I don’t, Dindymus, what you don’t I wish.
[tr. Kline (2006), "Contrary"]

I fly when you pursue me,
But when you shy, I woo thee.
Explain it to me, can't you,
Why I must ever want to want you.
[tr. Wills (2007)]

Martial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 4, epigram 38 (4.38) (AD 89) [tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 12, ep. 195]

Dave — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 18:21:26 +0000

Galla, deny; and render passion strong:
But, prudent Galla, don’t deny too long.

[Galla, nega: satiatur amor nisi gaudia torquent:
sed noli nimium, Galla, negare diu.]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 4, epigram 38 (4.38) (AD 89) [tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 12, ep. 195]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Galla deny, be not too eas'ly gain'd,
For Love will glut with Joys too soon obtain'd.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

Galla, say "No:" love is soon sated, unless our pleasures are mixed with some pain;
but do not continue, Galla, to say "No" too long.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

Refuse me, Galla; love cloys if its pleasures torture not:
but refuse not, Galla, too long.
[tr. Ker (1919)]

Galla, say "no" -- Tease love and you renew it.
But prithee, Galla, do not overdo it.
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

Say you won't Galla: For passion cloys
if its joys are not tormenting
But don't take too long in relenting!
[tr. Bovie (1970)]

Galla, say no, for love, unless
It teases, cloys with happiness.
Don't take too long, though, to say yes.
[tr. Michie (1972)]

Galla, say no. Love palIs, unless its joys are torture. But Galla, don't say no for too long.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

A "No" can build love's piquancy,
But don't, too long, say "No" to me.
[tr. Ericsson (1995)]

Galla, say no. Love is satiated unless pleasures torment.
But, Galla, do not say no for too long!
[tr. Williams (2004)]

"No" is enticing; so is wooing slow.
But nothing works till you stop saying "No."
[tr. Wills (2007)]

Galla, say no. Some torment makes love stronger.
But, Galla, don’t keep saying no much longer.
[tr. McLean (2014)]

Galla, tell me "No": love stales unless its joys bring pain.
But, Galla, don't say "No" for very long.
[tr. Nisbet (2015)]

Without a wait
or some hard trial,
love won’t amuse me.
So hesitate
(just for a while ...)
[tr. Juster (2016)]

Galla, say No, for Love will cloy
Without some torments mixed with joy.
But, Galla, do not get me wrong --
Please don’t say No to me too long.
[tr. Barger]

Chaucer, Geoffrey -- Troilus and Criseyde, Book 2, st. 4, ll. 22-26 (1385)

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 18:34:25 +0000

Ye knowe ek that, in forme of speche is chaunge
Withinne a thowsand yere, and words tho
That hadden prys, now wonder nyce and straunge
Us thynketh hem, and yet thai spake hm so,
And spedde as wele in love, as men now do ….

[You know that the form of speech will change within a thousand years, and words that were once apt, we now regard as quaint and strange; and yet they spoke them thus, and succeeded as well in love as men do now.]

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400) English poet, philosopher, astronomer, diplomat
Troilus and Criseyde, Book 2, st. 4, ll. 22-26 (1385)
(Source)

Note that the spelling varied between different editions of this same text.

Other translations:
"Remember in the forms of speech comes change
Within a thousand years, and words that then
Were well esteemed, seem foolish now and strange;
And yet they spake them so, time and again,
And thrived in love as well as any men." [tr. Krapp (2006)]

Scalzi, John -- “Convention Harassment Policy Follow-Up,” blog entry (5 Jul 2013)

Dave — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 12:51:53 +0000

If your flirting strategy is indistinguishable from harassment, it’s not everyone else that’s the problem.

John Scalzi (b. 1969) American writer
“Convention Harassment Policy Follow-Up,” blog entry (5 Jul 2013)
(Source)

Schulman, Tom -- Dead Poets Society (1989)

Dave — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 04:39:03 +0000

KEATING: Now, language was developed for one endeavor, and that is? Mr. Anderson? Come on! Are you a man or an amoeba? Mr. Perry?

NEIL: Uh, to communicate.

KEATING: No! To woo women!

Tom Schulman (b. 1951) American screenwriter, director
Dead Poets Society (1989)
(Source)

Marlowe, Christopher -- “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” st. 1-2 (1599 pub.)

Dave — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:48:31 +0000

Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That valleys, groves, hills and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564–1593) English dramatist and poet
“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” st. 1-2 (1599 pub.)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 164ff (5.2.164) (1599)

Dave — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:55:14 +0000

HENRY: A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 164ff (5.2.164) (1599)
(Source)

Quoted by Walter Mondale as a eulogy for Hubert Humphrey.