WIST Quotations

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 3, ch. 2 (3.2), “Of Repentance [Du Repentir]” (1586) [tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

Dave — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 22:00:53 +0000

Age imprints more wrinkles in the mind than it does on the face; and souls are never, or very rarely seen, that, in growing old, do not smell sour and musty.

[Elle nous attache plus de rides en l’esprit qu’au visage : et ne se void point d’ames, ou fort rares, qui en vieillissant ne sentent l’aigre et le moisi.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 3, ch. 2 (3.2), “Of Repentance [Du Repentir]” (1586) [tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]
(Source)

Montaigne wrote this around age 60.

(Source (French)). Other translations:

[Age] sets more wrinckles in our mindes, then on our foreheads: nor are there any spirits, or very rare ones, which in growing olde taste not sowrelie and mustilie.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

Age imprints more wrinkles in the Mind, than it does in the Face, and Souls are never, or very rarely seen, that in growing old do not smell sour and musty.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

[Old age] imprints more wrinkles in our mind than on our face; and there are to be seen few souls which, as they grow old, do not become sour and peevish.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

Old age puts more wrinkles in our minds than on our faces; and we never, or rarely, see a soul that in growing old does not come to smell sour and musty.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

Age sets more wrinkles on our minds than on our faces. You can find no souls -- or very few -- which as they grow old do not stink of rankness and of rot.
[tr. Screech (1987)]

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Article (1858-05), “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Tue, 23 May 2023 20:49:45 +0000

OLD AGE: I make it a rule never to force myself upon a person’s recognition until I have known him at least five years.

PROFESSOR: Do you mean to say that you have known me so long as that?

OLD AGE: I do. I left my card on you longer ago than that, but I am afraid you never read it; yet I see you have it with you.

PROFESSOR: Where?

OLD AGE: There, between your eyebrows, — three straight lines running up and down; all the probate courts know that token, — “Old Age, his mark.” Put your forefinger on the inner end of one eyebrow, and your middle finger on the inner end of the other eyebrow; now separate the fingers, and you will smooth out my sign-manual; that’s the way you used to look before I left my card on you.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1858-05), “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)

Collected in The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch. 7 (1858).

West, Mae -- Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It, ch. 21 (1959)

Dave — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 20:06:59 +0000

A man has more character in his face at forty than at twenty. He has suffered longer, and the more love, the more suffering, the more character.

Mae West (1892–1980) American film actress
Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It, ch. 21 (1959)
(Source)

Firbank, Ronald -- Valmouth (1918)

Dave — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:44:42 +0000

I suppose when there’s no more room for another crow’s-foot, one attains a sort of peace?

Ronald Firbank (1886–1926) British novelist and playwright
Valmouth (1918)

Twain, Mark -- Following the Equator, ch. 52, epigraph (Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar) (1897)

Dave — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:49:49 +0000

Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Following the Equator, ch. 52, epigraph (Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar) (1897)
(Source)