WIST Quotations

Banksy -- Wall and Piece, “Rats” (2005)

Dave — Wed, 21 May 2025 16:07:59 +0000

I’d been painting rats for three years before someone said “that’s clever it’s an anagram of art” and I had to pretend I’d known that all along.

Banksy (b. 1974?) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, “Rats” (2005)
(Source)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], 1805 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]

Dave — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 17:30:48 +0000

All ways of expressing ourselves are good if they make us understood. Thus, if the clarity of our thoughts comes through better in a play of words, then the wordplay is good.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1805 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)

Analog not found in standard translations of the Pensees.

Adams, John -- Letter (1819-03-31) to J. H. Tiffany

Dave — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:25:21 +0000

As I have always been convinced that abuse of Words, has been the great instrument of Sophistry and Chicanery — of party, faction and Division in Society.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1819-03-31) to J. H. Tiffany
(Source)

Handey, Jack -- Deeper Thoughts: All New, All Crispy (1993)

Dave — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 12:51:41 +0000

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Basically, it’s made up of two separate words — “mank” and “ind.” What do these words mean? It’s a mystery, and that’s why so is mankind.

Jack Handey (b. 1949) American humorist
Deeper Thoughts: All New, All Crispy (1993)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Article (1857-11), “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:56:16 +0000

A pun does not commonly justify a blow in return. But if a blow were given for such cause, and death ensued, the jury would be judges both of the facts and of the pun, and might, if the latter were of an aggravated character, return a verdict of justifiable homicide.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1857-11), “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)

Collected in The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch. 1 (1858)

Russell, Bertrand -- Comment, The Brains Trust, BBC Radio (1948-04-26)

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

I am firm. You are obstinate. He is a pig-headed fool.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Comment, The Brains Trust, BBC Radio (1948-04-26)
(Source)

Offered as a game, "Conjugations" (today referred to by linguists as "Russell Conjugations" or "Emotive Conjugations"). The publication The New Statesman and Nation subsequently ran a competition for similar "irregular verbs," which were later printed (1948-05-15), along with the quote from Russell.

Sometimes misattributed to British journalist Katharine Whitehorn.