Mastodawn

Never allow your mind to dwell on your own misconduct: that is ruin. The conscience has morbid sensibilities; it must be employed but not indulged, like the imagination or the stomach.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 7.1 “Discipline of Conscience”

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Stevenson, Robert Louis - Essay (1880-01/02?), "Reflections and Remarks on Human Life," § 7.1 "Discipline of Conscience" | WIST Quotations

Never allow your mind to dwell on your own misconduct: that is ruin. The conscience has morbid sensibilities; it must be employed but not indulged, like the imagination or the stomach. A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in the Edinburgh Edition of his Works, vol. 28 (1898).

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WIST Quotations May 15

A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

Solitude is the climax of the negative virtues. When we go to bed after a solitary day we can tell ourselves that we have not been unkind nor dishonest nor untruthful; and the negative virtues are agreeable to that dangerous faculty we call the conscience. That they should ever be admitted for a part of virtue is what I cannot explain. I do not care two straws for all the nots.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 4.6 “Solitude and Society”

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Stevenson, Robert Louis - Essay (1880-01/02?), "Reflections and Remarks on Human Life," § 4.6 "Solitude and Society" | WIST Quotations

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WIST Quotations Apr 23

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 1, ch. 2, § 8 (1951)

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Hoffer, Eric - True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 1, ch. 2, § 8 (1951) | WIST Quotations

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.

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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

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

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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]

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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 Has Moved!Sep 30, 2025

A quotation from A. A. Milne

“I have been Foolish and Deluded,” said Pooh, “and I am a Bear of No Brain at All.”
“You’re the Best Bear in All the World,” said Christopher Robin soothingly.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh, ch. 3 “Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting” (1926)

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WIST Quotations moves again!Sep 10, 2024

A quotation from Maugham, W. Somerset:

«
There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the type that most often writes about himself.
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/maugham-william-somerset/71877/

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The Summing Up, ch. 4 (1938) - Maugham, W. Somerset | WIST Quotations

There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the type that most often writes about himself.

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WIST Quotations moves again!Sep 29, 2023

A quotation from Dante Alighieri:

«
O clear and noble conscience, how sharply a little fault stings you!
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/dante-alighieri-poet/63503/

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The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 2 "Purgatorio," Canto 3, l. 8ff (3.8-9) (1314) [tr. Kline (2002)] - Dante Alighieri | WIST Quotations

O clear and noble conscience, how sharply a little fault stings you! [O dignitosa coscïenza, e netta, come t'è picciol fallo amaro morso!] Observing his guide, Virgil, upset over one of his own lapses. (Source (Italian)). Alternate translations: O matchless dignity of stainless thought! Thus bitter seems to you the…

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