People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. We can only see what we are, and if we misbehave we suspect others.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/…
A quotation from Bill Watterson
CALVIN: Tigers don’t worry about much, do they?
HOBBES: Nope. That’s one of the perks of being feral.
Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1989-03-12)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/watterson-bill/4106/
A quotation from Ambrose Bierce
PRECEDENT, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Precedent,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/76306…
Well, you see, Mr Scarman, I have the advantage of being slightly ahead of you. Sometimes behind you, but normally ahead of you.
— The Doctor, in “The Pyramids of Mars”
“He says he doesn't know who he is or why he has come.”
“Well, I admire a man with an open mind.”
— Ruther and Shardovan, in “Castrovalva”
They say the atmosphere there was so full of goodness that evil just shrivelled up and died. Maybe that's why I never went there.
— The Doctor, in “The Keeper of Traken”
We're all basically primeval slime with ideas above its station.
— The Doctor, in “Full Circle”
They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Essay (1775-03-06), “Novanglus,” No. 7, Boston Gazette
Sourcing, substantial notes: wist.info/adams-john/6715/
A quotation from Franklin Roosevelt
In dictatorships there can be no party divisions. For all men must think as they are told, speak as they are told, write as they are told, live — and die — as they are told. In those countries the Nation is not above the party, as with us; the party is above the Nation; the party is the Nation. Every common man and woman is forced to walk the straight and narrow path of the party line, not strictly speaking a party line, but rather a line drawn by the dictator himself, who owns the party.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1941-03-29), Jackson Day Radio Broadcast, U.S.S. Potomac
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-d…
A quotation from Marcus Aurelius
Constantly observe everything coming into being through change, and accustom yourself to the thought that universal nature loves nothing so much as to change the things that are and to create new things in their likeness. For everything that exists is, in a sense, the seed of what will arise from it.
[Θεώρει διηνεκῶς πάντα κατὰ μεταβολὴν γινόμενα καὶ ἐθίζου ἐννοεῖν, ὅτι οὐδὲν οὕτως φιλεῖ ἡ τῶν ὅλων φύσις ὡς τὸ τὰ ὄντα μεταβάλλειν καὶ ποιεῖν νέα ὅμοια. σπέρμα γὰρ τρόπον τινὰ πᾶν τὸ ὃν τοῦ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐσομένου.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 4, ch. 36 (4.36) (AD 161-180) [tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/2668…
“Traken Union, famous for its harmony. A whole empire held together by... by people being terribly nice to each other.”
“Well, that makes a change.”
— The Doctor and Adric, in “The Keeper of Traken”
GLOUCESTER: 'Tis the time's plague, when madmen lead the blind.
— King Lear, IV, i
But what if it's really funny?
Anyway, Mr. Fitzgerald would have hated texting me.
“As far as we know, the sea was calm and empty.”
“It may be calm, but it's never empty.”
— Huckle and the Doctor, in “Terror of the Zygons”
“Are you trying to tell me you're in love?”
“Love? What is 'love'? I want *existence*.”
— Tegan and Marriner, in “Enlightenment”
In the queerest way, pleasure and disgust are linked together. The human body is beautiful: it is also repulsive and ridiculous, a fact which can be verified at any swimming pool. The sexual organs are objects of desire and also of loathing, so much so that in many languages, if not in all languages, their names are used as words of abuse. Meat is delicious, but a butcher’s shop makes one feel sick: and indeed all our food springs ultimately from dung and dead bodies, the two things which of all others seem to us the most horrible. A child, when it is past the infantile stage but still looking at the world with fresh eyes, is moved by horror almost as often as by wonder – horror of snot and spittle, of the dogs’ excrement on the pavement, the dying toad full of maggots, the sweaty smell of grown-ups, the hideousness of old men, with their bald heads and bulbous noses.
In his endless harping on disease, dirt and deformity, Swift is not actually inventing anything, he is merely leaving something out.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/orwell-george/76157/
"*Your* name and date of birth?”
“I'm called the Doctor; date of birth... difficult to remember, sometime quite soon I think.”
— Fisk and the Doctor, in “Nightmare of Eden”
I would remind my countrymen, that they are to be men first, and Americans only at a late and convenient hour. No matter how valuable law may be to protect your property, even to keep soul and body together, if it do not keep you and humanity together.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/…
“Well, Doctor?”
“Yes, I'm fine.”
— Romana and the Doctor, in “State of Decay”
