Mastodawn

The reason we are not often wholly possessed by a single vice, is that we are distracted by several.

[Ce qui nous empêche souvent de nous abandonner à un seul vice est que nous en avons plusieurs.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶195 (1665-1678) [pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶442]

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

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La Rochefoucauld, Francois - Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶195 (1665-1678) [pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶442] | WIST Quotations

The reason we are not often wholly possessed by a single vice, is that we are distracted by several. [Ce qui nous empêche souvent de nous abandonner à un seul vice est que nous en avons plusieurs.] Present in 1st (1665) edition. In the manuscript, the ending reads "est que…

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WIST Quotations May 25

A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

When our vices desert us, we flatter ourselves that we are deserting our vices.

[Quand les vices nous quittent, nous nous flattons de la créance que c’est nous qui les quittons.]

More about this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

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La Rochefoucauld, Francois - Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶192 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)] | WIST Quotations

When our vices desert us, we flatter ourselves that we are deserting our vices. [Quand les vices nous quittent, nous nous flattons de la créance que c’est nous qui les quittons.] Present in the 1st (1665) edition. In that version and the manuscript, the latter part read "... nous voulons…

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations May 25

A quotation from Brennan Manning

When we wallow in guilt, remorse, and shame over real or imagined sins of the past, we are disdaining God’s gift of grace.

Brennan Manning (1934-2013) American author, laicized priest, theologian, speaker [Richard Francis Xavier Manning]
The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 6 “Grazie, Signore” (1990)

More about this quote: wist.info/manning-brennan/8381…

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Manning, Brennan - The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 6 "Grazie, Signore" (1990) | WIST Quotations

When we wallow in guilt, remorse, and shame over real or imagined sins of the past, we are disdaining God’s gift of grace.

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WIST Quotations Mar 18

A quotation from Christopher Marlowe

FAUSTUS: Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas;
   “If we say that we have no sin,
   We deceive ourselves, and there’s no truth in us.”
   Why, then, belike we must sin,
   And so consequently die.
   Ay, we must die an everlasting death.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 1 (sc. 1), l. 70ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)

More about this quote: wist.info/marlowe-christopher/…

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Marlowe, Christopher - The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 1 (sc. 1), l. 70ff (1594; 1604 "A" text) | WIST Quotations

FAUSTUS: Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas; "If we say that we have no sin, We deceive ourselves, and there's no truth in us." Why, then, belike we must sin, And so consequently die. Ay, we must die an everlasting death. The quote is from the…

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WIST Quotations Mar 11

A quotation from Kit Marlowe

BAD ANGEL: He that loves pleasure, must for pleasure fall.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 5, sc. 4 (sc. 19), l. 2032 (5.4.2032) (1594; 1616 “B” text)

More about this quote: wist.info/marlowe-christopher/…

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Marlowe, Christopher - The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 5, sc. 4 (sc. 19), l. 2032 (5.4.2032) (1594; 1616 "B" text) | WIST Quotations

BAD ANGEL: He that loves pleasure, must for pleasure fall. This scene with the Bad Angel was added in the "B" text.

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WIST Quotations Jan 29

A quotation from Marcus Aurelius

Do not forget you are like the rest of the world, and faulty yourself in a great many instances: that though you may forbear from some errors, it is not for want of inclination, and that nothing but cowardice, vanity, or some such base principle hinders you from sinning.

[καὶ αὐτὸς πολλὰ ἁμαρτάνεις καὶ ἄλλος τοιοῦτος εἷ: καὶ εἴ τινων δὲ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπέχῃ, ἀλλὰ τήν γε ἕξιν ἐποιστικὴν ἔχεις, εἰ καὶ διὰ δειλίαν ἢ δοξοκοπίαν ἢ τοιοῦτό τι κακὸν ἀπέχῃ τῶν ὁμοίων ἁμαρτημάτων.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 11, ch. 18 (11.18) (AD 161-180) [tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/8169…

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Marcus Aurelius - Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 11, ch. 18 (11.18) (AD 161-180) [tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)] | WIST Quotations

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WIST Quotations Jan 6

A quotation from Herbert Hoover

In the Middle Ages it was the fashion to wear hair shirts to remind one’s self of trouble and sin. Many years ago I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The President differs only from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
Speech (1929-12-14), Gridiron Club, Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C.

More about this quote: wist.info/hoover-herbert/10950…

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Hoover, Herbert - Speech (1929-12-14), Gridiron Club, Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C. | WIST Quotations

In the Middle Ages it was the fashion to wear hair shirts to remind one's self of trouble and sin. Many years ago I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The President differs only from other men in that he has…

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Dec 19, 2025

A quotation from Racine

HIPPOLYTUS: Great crimes are never single, they are link’d
   To former faults. He who has once transgress’d
   May violate at last all that men hold
   Most sacred; vice, like virtue, has degrees
   Of progress; innocence was never seen
   To sink at once into the lowest depths
   Of guilt.

[HIPPOLYTE: Quelques crimes toujours precedent les grands crimes.
   Quiconque a pu franchir les bornes légitimes
   Peut violer enfin les droits les plus sacrés ;
   Ainsi que la vertu, le crime a ses degrés ;
   Et jamais on n’a vu la timide innocence
   Passer subitement à l’extrême licence.]

Jean Racine (1639-1699) French dramatist
Phèdre [Phædra], Act 4, sc. 2, l. 1094ff (1677-01-01) [tr. Boswell (1897)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/racine-jean/80880/

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Phèdre [Phædra], Act 4, sc. 2, l. 1094ff (1677-01-01) [tr. Boswell (1897)] - Racine, Jean | WIST Quotations

HIPPOLYTUS: Great crimes are never single, they are link'd To former faults. He who has once transgress'd May violate at last all that men hold Most sacred; vice, like virtue, has degrees Of progress; innocence was never seen To sink at once into the lowest depths Of guilt. [HIPPOLYTE: Quelques…

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WIST Quotations Has Moved!Sep 23, 2025

A quotation from The Bible

Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.

[Ὁ ἀναμάρτητος ὑμῶν πρῶτος ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν βαλέτω λίθον.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
John 8: 7 (Jesus) [CEB (2011)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-nt/4570/

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