Mastodawn

It is the business of this life to make excuses for others, but none for ourselves. We should be clearly persuaded of our own misconduct, for that is the part of knowledge in which we are most apt to be defective.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 1.1 “Justice and Justification”

More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #criticism #excuses #forgiveness #selfawareness #selfblame #selfconsciousness #selfcorrection #selfcriticism #selfdiscipline #selfdoubt #selfevaluation #selfimprovement #selfjudgment #selfopinion #selfregard #blame #selfblame #accountability

Stevenson, Robert Louis - Essay (1880-01/02?), "Reflections and Remarks on Human Life," § 1.1 "Justice and Justification" | WIST Quotations

It is the business of this life to make excuses for others, but none for ourselves. We should be clearly persuaded of our own misconduct, for that is the part of knowledge in which we are most apt to be defective. A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in…

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WIST Quotations Apr 27

A quotation from Montesquieu

I suffer from the disease of writing books and being ashamed of them when they are finished.

[J’ai la maladie de faire des livres et d’en être honteux quand je les ai faits.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 83 / 837 (1720-1755)

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/83690/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #author #dissatisfaction #selfcontempt #selfcriticism #selfdeprecation #selfdoubt #selfjudgment #selfloathing #selfperception #shame #writer #writing

WIST Quotations Apr 7

A quotation from Emerson

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.
In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

More about this quote: wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #emerson #ralphwaldoemerson #belief #believeinyourself #confidence #creativity #ego #genius #humility #idea #opinion #originality #pride #selfappreciation #selfapproval #selfbetrayal #selfcensorship #selfconfidence #selfconsciousness #selfcriticism #selfdefeating #selfdeprecating #selfeffacing #selfesteem #selfjudgment #selfquestioning #selfreproach #selfsabotage #selftrust #spontaneity #trustyourself

Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Essay (1841), "Self-Reliance," Essays: First Series, No. 2 | WIST Quotations

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own…

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WIST Quotations Apr 3

A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

Few men are sufficiently discerning to appreciate all the evil they do.

[Il n’y a guère d’homme assez habile pour connoître tout le mal qu’il fait.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶269 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959), ¶269]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #denial #ego #evil #evildoer #harm #pride #selfawareness #selfcondemnation #selfcriticism #selfdeception #selfdoubt #selfjudgment #selfopinion #selfpolicing #selfrationalization #selfreproach #selfrighteousness #vanity #wrongdoing

La Rochefoucauld, Francois - Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶269 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959), ¶269] | WIST Quotations

Few men are sufficiently discerning to appreciate all the evil they do. [Il n’y a guère d’homme assez habile pour connoître tout le mal qu’il fait.] First appeared in the 2nd (1666) edition. In manuscript, it reads "... assez pénétrant pour apercevoir tout le mal qu’il fait." (Source (French)). Other…

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WIST Quotations Mar 27

A quotation from Josh Billings

It iz one ov the hardest things on earth for a man to learn,—that he plays a third rate game ov whist.

[It is one of the hardest things on earth for a man to learn — that he plays a third-rate game of whist.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.)

More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/82836/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #cardgames #cards #competitiveness #inferiority #limitations #mediocrity #quality #selfassessment #selfawareness #selfjudgment #whist

Billings, Josh - Josh Billings' Farmer's Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.) | WIST Quotations

It iz one ov the hardest things on earth for a man to learn,—that he plays a third rate game ov whist. [It is one of the hardest things on earth for a man to learn -- that he plays a third-rate game of whist.] Whist was a very popular…

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ClaraTheWriter Mar 14

Here's the irony: striving for balance was making me more exhausted than imbalance ever did.

Good intentions become rules. Balance becomes another mountain.

Has your commitment to balance ever quietly become a way of controlling yourself?

#balance #yoga #wellness
#perfectionism #selfjudgment #mindfulpractice
#practicewithoutpressure #compassion #breathe

ClaraTheWriter Feb 24

Here's the irony: striving for balance was making me more exhausted than imbalance ever did.

Good intentions become rules. Balance becomes another mountain.

Has your commitment to balance ever quietly become a way of controlling yourself?

#balance #yoga #wellness
#perfectionism #selfjudgment #mindfulpractice
#practicewithoutpressure #compassion #breathe

WIST Quotations Feb 6

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

But when thoughts and words are collected and adjusted, and the whole composition at last concluded, it seldom gratifies the author, when he comes coolly and deliberately to review it, with the hopes which had been excited in the fury of the performance: novelty always captivates the mind; as our thoughts rise fresh upon us, we readily believe them just and original, which, when the pleasure of production is over, we find to be mean and common, or borrowed from the works of others, and supplied by memory rather than invention.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1754-03-02), The Adventurer, No. 138

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/81911…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #author #creativity #disappointment #editing #novelty #originality #plagiarism #repetition #review #selfconsciousness #selfcriticism #selfdefeat #selfdeprecation #selfdoubt #selfjudgment #selfopinion #selfreflection #selfsabotage #writing

Johnson, Samuel - Essay (1754-03-02), The Adventurer, No. 138 | WIST Quotations

But when thoughts and words are collected and adjusted, and the whole composition at last concluded, it seldom gratifies the author, when he comes coolly and deliberately to review it, with the hopes which had been excited in the fury of the performance: novelty always captivates the mind; as our…

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WIST Quotations Has Moved!Oct 22, 2025

A quotation from Thomas Fuller

Dare not to be guilty of ill Things, tho’ thou wert sure to be secret and unpunished. Conscience will sit upon it, and that is Witness, Jury, Judge, and Executioner.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2216 (1727)

More info about this quote: wist.info/ivins-molly/79900/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thomasfuller #conscience #guilt #guiltyconscience #selfawareness #selfcondemnation #selfconsciousness #selfcriticism #selfdeprecation #selfesteem #selfinflictedwound #selfjudgment #selfregard #shame #wrongdoing

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Jul 29, 2025

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

For behind the unwillingness to judge lurks the suspicion that no one is a free agent, and hence the doubt that anyone is responsible or could be expected to answer for what he has done. The moment moral issues are raised, even in passing, he who raises them will be confronted with this frightful lack of self-confidence and hence of pride, and also with a kind of mock-modesty that in saying, Who am I to judge? actually means We’re all alike, equally bad, and those who try, or pretend that they try, to remain halfway decent are either saints or hypocrites, and in either case should leave us alone.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/arendt-hannah/43944/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #accountability #agency #freewill #humannature #humility #hypocrisy #judgment #morality #pride #responsibility #reticence #selfdeprecation #selfdoubt #selfjudgment #virtue

Essay (1964-08), "Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship," The Listener Magazine - Arendt, Hannah | WIST Quotations

For behind the unwillingness to judge lurks the suspicion that no one is a free agent, and hence the doubt that anyone is responsible or could be expected to answer for what he has done. The moment moral issues are raised, even in passing, he who raises them will be…

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