Wit & Wisdom

From Francis Bacon, Raymond Chandler, Jean-Claude Juncker, P.T. Barnum, Orhan Pamuk, Don Herold, Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”

Francis Bacon, quoted in Forbes.com

“The tragedy of life is not that the beautiful things die young; it is that they grow old and mean.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Raymond Chandler, quoted in the London Times

“We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.”

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, quoted in The Economist

“Without promotion something terrible happens: nothing.”

P.T. Barnum, quoted in the Tulsa World

“Inspiration is the act of drawing the chair up to the writing table.”

Orhan Pamuk, quoted in the London Daily Mail

“It is a good thing that life is not as serious as it seems to a waiter.”

Don Herold, quoted in The Denver Post

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.