WIST Quotations

L'Engle, Madeleine -- Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Dave — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 18:10:08 +0000

We think because we have words, not the other way around, and the greater our vocabulary, the greater our ability to think conceptually. The first people a dictator puts in jail are the writers, the teachers, the librarians — because these people are dangerous. They have enough vocabulary to recognize injustice and to speak out loudly about it. Let us have the courage to go on being dangerous people.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 21:49:00 +0000

Everybody can write; writers can’t do anything else.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)
(Source)

Stevens, Wallace -- Opus Posthumous, “Adagia” (1957)

Dave — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 17:24:41 +0000

Authors are actors, books are theaters.

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) American poet
Opus Posthumous, “Adagia” (1957)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- “Mehitabel,” Toronto Daily Star (21 Nov 1959)

Dave — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:42:00 +0000

Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
“Mehitabel,” Toronto Daily Star (21 Nov 1959)

Reprinted in The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies (1990).

Porter, Cole -- “Anything Goes” (1934)

Dave — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 23:00:22 +0000

Good authors, too, who once knew better words
Now only use four-letter words
Writing prose.
Anything goes!

Cole Porter (1891-1964) American composer and songwriter
“Anything Goes” (1934)

Channing, William E. -- “Self Culture,” lecture, Boston (Sep 1838)

Dave — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 15:57:21 +0000

It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds, and these invaluable means of communication are in the reach of all. In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours.

William E. Channing (1780-1842) American moralist, author, cleric, Unitarian theologian
“Self Culture,” lecture, Boston (Sep 1838)

White, E. B. -- “Freedom” (Jul 1940)

Dave — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:38:03 +0000

I am inordinately proud these days of the quill, for it has shown itself, historically, to be the hypodermic which inoculates men and keeps the germ of freedom always in circulation, so that there are individuals in every time in every land who are the carriers, the Typhoid Mary’s, capable of infecting others by mere contact and example. These persons are feared by every tyrant — who shows his fear by burning the books and destroying the individuals.

E. B. White (1899-1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
“Freedom” (Jul 1940)

Stoppard, Tom -- The Real Thing, Act 2, sc. 5 (1982)

Dave — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:04:49 +0000

HENRY: I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you might nudge the world a little or make a poem that children will speak for you when you are dead.

Tom Stoppard (1937-2025) Czech-English playwright and screenwriter
The Real Thing, Act 2, sc. 5 (1982)
(Source)

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-06-18), The Spectator, No. 94

Dave — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:10:02 +0000

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-18), The Spectator, No. 94
(Source)