Thrust into life without my own consent,
Thrust back to death, with who knows what intent?
Arise, bright saki, fill the cup with wine
And drown the burden of my discontent.
Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 21 [tr. Roe (1906), # 44]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/omar-khayyam/75907/
Tigritude by Wole Soyinka
The quote about Tigritude below is a reaction of the first generation of Anglophone writers in the 60s to the older tradition of French Négritude theory (Léopold Sédar Senghor & Aimé Césaire).
There are many famous quotes from him, mainly this one I found on a wall in Cotonou (BJ) years ago […]
It was this fear which led me into the snare of procrastination. But if I make haste now I regain all; if I delay I lose all.
[Hoc verens in hanc tarditatem incidi. Bed adsequar omnia si propero: si cunctor, amitto.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 10, Letter 8, sec. 5 (10.8.5) (49 BC) [tr. Jeans (1880), # 71]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…
A quotation from Josh Billings
The time tew be karefullest iz when we hav a hand full ov trumps.
[The time to be most careful is when we have a hand full of trumps.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/billings-josh/75899/
A quotation from Erich Kastner
The events from 1933 to 1945 should have been fought in 1928 at the latest. Later it was too late. We must not wait until the struggle for freedom is called treason. We must not wait until the snowball has turned into an avalanche, we must crush the rolling snowball. Nobody can stop the avalanche! It only comes to rest when it has buried everything underneath it.
That is the lesson, that is the conclusion of what happened to us in 1933, that is the conclusion we must draw from our experiences, and it is the conclusion of my speech. Impending dictatorships can only be fought before they have taken power. It is a matter of an appointment calendar, not heroism.
[Die Ereignisse von 1933 bis 1945 hätten spätestens 1928 bekämpft werden müssen. Später war es zu spät. Man darf nicht warten, bis der Freiheitskampf Landesverrat genannt wird. Man darf nicht warten, bis aus dem Schneeball eine Lawine geworden ist. Man muß den rollenden Schneeball zertreten. Die Lawine hält keiner mehr auf. Sie ruht erst, wenn sie alles unter sich begraben hat.
Das ist die Lehre, das ist das Fazit dessen, was uns 1933 widerfuhr. Das ist der Schluß, den wir aus unseren Erfahrungen ziehen müssen, und es ist der Schluß meiner Rede. Drohende Diktaturen lassen sich nur bekämpfen, ehe sie die Macht übernommen haben. Es ist eine Angelegenheit des Terminkalenders, nicht des Heroismus.]
Erich Kästner (1899-1974) German writer, poet, screenwriter, satirist
Speech (1958-05-10), “Über das verbrennen von büchern [On the Burning of Books],” Hamburg PEN Conference
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/kastner-erich/75897/
A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt
No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency. He is bound to do all the good possible. Yet he must consider the question of expediency, in order that he may do all the good possible, for otherwise he will do none.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Essay (1900-06), “Latitude and Longitude Among Reformers,” The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 2
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/5…
A quotation from Thomas Carlyle
For there is no heroic poem in the world but is at bottom a biography, the life of a man; also, it may be said, there is no life of a man, faithfully recorded, but is a heroic poem of its sort, rhymed or unrhymed.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1837-12-06), “On Sir Walter Scott,” The London and Westminster Review, Art. 2 (1838-01)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/65857…
A quotation from Margaret Atwood
When power is scarce, a little of it is tempting.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
The Handmaid’s Tale, “Historical Notes” (1986)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/atwood-margaret/7589…
The step from perfectly ordinary things into the miraculous seems to me so small, almost accidental, that I wonder why it astonishes you at all, or why you trouble to reason about it. If it were reasonable it could not be miraculous, could it?
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
The Holy Thief, ch. 10 [Aline] (1992)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/peters-ellis/3130/
There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1738 ed.)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/75…
What is called fashion is the tradition of the moment.
[Was man Mode heißt, ist augenblickliche Uberlieferung.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893), “Life and Character,” sec. 7, #392]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/goethe-johann/11005/
#QOTD: "Your life is going to be full of people sounding like they know what they're talking about." - Michael Lopp (Rands In Repose)
The poor man’s conscience is clear; yet he is ashamed. His character is irreproachable, yet he is neglected and despised. He feels himself out of the sight of others, groping in the dark. Mankind takes no notice of him: he rambles and wanders unheeded. In the midst of a crowd, at church, in the market, at a play, at an execution or coronation, he is in as much obscurity as he would be in a garret or a cellar. He is not disapproved, censured, or reproached: he is only not seen. This total inattention is to him, mortifying, painful and cruel. […] To be wholly overlooked, and to know it, are intolerable.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Essay (1790), “Discourses on Davila: A Series of Papers on Political History,” No. 5, Gazette of the United States
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/adams-john/18189/
A quotation from Steven Moffat
JANE: Oh, I know about pretending. I once went on holiday and pretended to be twins. It was amazing fun. I invented this mad, glamorous sister and went around really annoying everybody. And d’you know, I could get away with anything when I was my crazy twin Jane.
SALLY: But you’re Jane.
JANE: Kinda stuck. It’s a long story.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 02×09 “The End of the Line” (2001-10-29)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/moffat-steven/75878/
A quotation from Marcus Aurelius
Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant: all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed.
[καὶ ἔτι συμμνημόνευε, ὅτι μόνον ζῇ ἕκαστος τὸ παρὸν τοῦτο, τὸ ἀκαριαῖον: τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἢ βεβίωται ἢ ἐν ἀδήλῳ.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 3, ch. 10 (3.10) (AD 161-180) [tr. Staniforth (1964)]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/3424…
Find out what walk-up song @j_chisholm3@twitter.com goes with tomorrow 
In the meantime, here's what his teammates suggest 
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.
[Le doute n’est pas une état bien agréable, mais l’assurance est un état ridicule.]
Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Letter (1770-11-28) to Frederick William, Prince of Prussia [tr. Tallentyre (1919)]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/voltaire/4016/
A quotation from Ella Wheeler Wilcox
We two make banquets of the plainest fare;
In every cup we find the thrill of pleasure;
We hide with wreaths the furrowed brow of care
And win to smiles the set lips of despair.
For us life always moves with lilting measure;
We two, we two, we make our world, our pleasure.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1900-05), “We Two,” st. 2, The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 1
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/wilcox-ella-wheeler/…
A quotation from Bertrand Russell
When I speak of “the sinner”, I do not mean the man who commits sin: sins are committed by everyone or no one, according to our definition of the word. I mean the man who is absorbed in the consciousness of sin. This man is perpetually incurring his own disapproval, which, if he is religious, he interprets as the disapproval of God. He has an image of himself as he thinks he ought to be, which is in continual conflict with his knowledge of himself as he is.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 1 “What Makes People Unhappy?” (1930)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/russell-bertrand/758…
