Mastodawn

Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave
When they think that their children are naive.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“Baby, What Makes the Sky Blue?” ll. 1-2, New Yorker (1940-01-20)

More about this quote: wist.info/nash-ogden/5400/

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Nash, Ogden - "Baby, What Makes the Sky Blue?" ll. 1-2, New Yorker (1940-01-20) | WIST Quotations

Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave When they think that their children are naive. Collected in his The Face Is Familiar (1941).

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Oct 8

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

The man who underestimates himself is perpetually being surprised by success, whereas the man who overestimates himself is just as often surprised by failure. The former kind of surprise is pleasant, the latter unpleasant. It is therefore wise to be not unduly conceited, though also not too modest to be enterprising.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 2, ch. 10 “Is Happiness Still Possible?” (1930)

More info about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/795…

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WIST Quotations Has Moved!Aug 18, 2025

A quotation from Montesquieu

I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.

[J’ai toujours vu que, pour réussir parfaitement bien dans le monde, il alloit avoir l’air fou et être sage.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1004 / 1013 (1720-1755)

Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/montesquieu/78458/

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