Meetings

Crowd not your table: let your numbers be
Not more than seven, and never less than three.
~ William IV of England

I'm saying: to be continued, until we meet again. Meanwhile, keep on listening and tapping your feet.
~ William James "Count" Basie, in Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie (1985).

I'm not the party type. Just to go to a party and talk acting all the time is stupid.
~ Bill Bixby, The Milwaukee Journal (15 August 1965). Interview on the Acting Profession

Great things are done when men and mountains meet;
This is not done by jostling in the street.
~ William Blake, Gnomic Verses i

I am glad for my heart whose gates apart
Are the entrance-place of wonders,
Where dreams come in from the rush and din
Like sheep from the rains and thunders.
~ William Stanley Braithwaite, from Lyrics of Life and Love (1904). Rhapsody

And kind the voice and glad the eyes
That welcome my return at night.
~ William Cullen Bryant, in the New York Mirror (1834). The Hunter in the Prairies

I stand and calmly wait till the hinges turn for me.
~ William Cullen Bryant, from Thirty Poems (1864). Waiting by the Gate. Stanza 1

Dark alley, near midnight, silent door, loud knock, moment of silence, footsteps groping down stairs, rattle of key in lock, door opened -- and there lamp held high above his head, stands your dark Celtic velvet inspired mystic eloquent refined W.B.Y. himself, the William Blake of this smaller generation.
~ (William) Bliss Carman (of a meeting with W.B. Yeats), in Letters of Bliss Carman (1981). Letter to Louise Guiney in September of 1896

Thy coming is companioned
By presences of bliss;
The rivers and the little leaves
All know how good it is.
~ (William) Bliss Carman, from Pipes of Pan, Number Three (1904). Songs of the Sea Children, II

She heard him give his name, and came forward holding out her hand. "Is it you, indeed, Professor Wilson?"
~ Willa Sibert Cather, Alexander's Bridge (1912).

Where from?
~ Bill Charuchas, quoted in The Associated Press (1 November 2001). Obituaries in the News

A hundred standing people smiling and talking to one another, nodding like gooney birds.
~ William Cole (on cocktail parties), in The New York Times (3 December 1972).

Not to say that authors are all such sourpusses, but you meet the author in the best possible way, on the written page. I am at my best there, more patient, more thoughtful.
~ Billy Collins, in The Kansas City Star (21 December 2002). Billy Collins at Bloomsday

In hours of bliss we oft have met:
They could not always last;
And though the present I regret,
I'm grateful for the past.
~ William Congreve, False though She be

[T]hey come together like the Coroner's Inquest, to sit upon the murdered reputations of the week.
~ William Congreve, The Way of the World (1700). Act I, scene i

My hat and wig will soon be here, --
They are upon the road.
~ William Cowper, The Diverting History of John Gilpin (1782).

Good morning, Life -- and all
Things glad and beautiful.
My pockets nothing hold,
But he that owns the gold,
The Sun, is my great friend --
His spending has no end.
~ William Henry (W.H.) Davies, from Foliage: Various Poems (1913). A Greeting

If a man rush through a quickset hedge in haste, he cannot chose but have his face scratched, whereas if he temperately did divide the bushes with his hands, he might go through without any hurt. When a poor man comes high a churlish mastiff he must not spurn at him if he mean to go quietly by him, but flatter and stroke him on the back, and spit in his mouth.
~ William Fennor, The Compters Common-Wealth (1617).

It isn't so much what's on the table that matters, as what's on the chairs.
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert

Enter in and sit beside us,
Thou art gladly welcome here.
~ William Belcher Glazier, from Poems (1853). The Hostel

There is one crucial rule that must be followed in all creative meetings: Never speak first. At least at the start, your job is to shut up.
~ William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting (1983).

Whoever invented the meeting must have had Hollwood in mind. I think they should consider giving Oscars for meetings: Best Meeting of the Year, Best Supporting Meeting, Best Meeting Based on Material from Another Meeting.
~ William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting (1983).

Conferences at the top level are always courteous. Name-calling is left to the foreign ministers.
~ William (W.) Averell Harriman, News summaries (1 August 1955).

Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.
~ William Dean Howells, Attributed

Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself.
~ William Ralph (Dean) Inge

Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.
~ William James

An agenda is like an itinerary or a map for a group tour. It clarifies the points of interest, final destination, and time of arrival at that destination. Having such a map orients participants and allows them to concentrate more fully on each item.
~ William M. Moremen, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, "The Pastor's Handbook" (1984). Developing Spiritually and Professionally

All I know is, I pass people on the street these days, and they don't know whether to say hello or to say good-bye.
~ Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin

There are people who say: quite well, thank you, when you say, how d'you do, to them. How vain they must be to think you can possibly care!
~ W. Somerset Maugham, from A Writer's Notebook (1949). 1900 entry

Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet 'em on your way down.
~ Wilson Mizner, quoted in The Legendary Mizners (1953).

A man who has depths in his shame meets his destiny and his delicate decisions upon paths which few ever reach ...
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Ecce Homo (1888). Why I Am a Destiny

So then, friends, what do you say?
Amen! Until we meet again.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1878). Among Friends: An Epilogue

Take a chance and try my fare!
It will grow on you, I swear;
Soon it will taste good to you!
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882). Prelude in German Rhymes (Joke, Cunning and Revenge)

Who dares this pair of boots displace,
Must meet Bombastes face to face.
~ William B. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso (1810). Act I, scene iv

A man gets up to speak and says nothing ... nobody listens ... and then everybody disagrees.
~ Will Rogers

A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet.
~ Will Rogers

There is always more hatreds formed at any meeting than there is friendships, no matter what they agree to they know they should have done better.
~ Will Rogers

A table full of welcome make scarce one dainty dish.
~ William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors. Act III, scene i

Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou comest in such a questionable shape
That I will speak to thee.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act I, scene iv

Feast with the best, and welcome to my house.
~ William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew. Act V, scene ii

First, like a trumpet, doth his tongue begin.
~ William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece

Good Dawning to thee friend.
~ William Shakespeare, King Lear. Act II, scene ii

My charms crack not; my spirits obey; and time
Goes upright with his carriage. How's the day?
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act V, scene i

Open, locks,
Whoever knocks!
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Trip no further, pretty sweeting;
Journeys end in lovers meeting,
Every wise man's son doth know.
~ William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. Act II, scene iii

We have a trifling foolish banquet towards.
~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

What, ho! Peace here; grace and good company!
~ William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act III, scene i

What, do we meet together? Ay, and, I think, one business doth command us all.
~ William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens. Act III, scene iv

When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Act I, scene i

You have displac'd the mirth, broke the good meeting,
With most admir'd disorder.
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth

You have stayed me in a happy hour.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act IV, scene i

You're welcome, my fair guests.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII. Act I, scene iv

You're welcome: what's your will?
~ William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act II, scene ii

Put out your hand. Help me stay.
~ William Stafford, In the Clock of Reason (1973). Watching a Storm

Good day, my friends, and all things glad and beautiful! Are you getting the most out of life?
~ William Leroy "Bill" Stidger (daily greeting for the radio program, "Getting the Most Out of Life"), quoted in Evangelism's First Modern Media Star: Reverend Bill Stidger (2002). Chapter 9: Radio Days

And we met, as two clouds in heaven
When the thunders before them fly.
~ William Wetmore Story, from Graffiti d'Italia (1868). Cleopatra

Nothing is more irritating than not being invited to a party you wouldn't be seen dead at.
~ William E. "Bill" Vaughan, quoted in Reader's Digest (1959).

Too solemn for day, too sweet for night,
Come not in darkness, come not in light;
But come in some twilight interim,
When the gloom is soft, and the light is dim.
~ William Sidney Walker, Too solemn for day, too sweet for night

Well, how has it been with you since we met
That last strange time of a hundred times?
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from Poems of Passion (1883). Queries

Perhaps it's getting to be an act of courage to say the truth about her. Well, let me be courageous. I have never met anybody as mean as Marilyn Monroe ... nor as utterly fabulous on the screen.
~ Billy Wilder, quoted in Billy Wilder in Hollywood (1977). Chapter 19: Interview in Los Angeles Times (1968)

I've never met a lot of hardboiled eggs in my time, but you're twenty minutes.
~ Billy Wilder

I didn't cry that time when I saw her because I had cried so much. ... But I was just beside myself to have her in my arms again. It was incredible, the feelings. And during captivity, I at some point had to stop thinking about my family because it hurt so bad. Just to see her again ... I'm speechless. The feeling is overwhelming.
~ David S. Williams, CBS TV "60 Minutes II" (17 September 2003). Former POWs Tell Their Story

Welcome.
No Charge.
No Red Lights.
~ DeWayne "Dooby" Williams, Guru of Gerlach, Rock Inscription at Dooby Avenue, Gerlach Nevada.

The nice thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive.
~ Kenneth Charles Williams, Acid Drops (1980).

Here was a damper! Dismay was on every face. Pipes and cigars one by one failed and dropped out of sight. When all had disappeared, out came the President's cigar-case. He lit up and smoked away serenely. The men looked at him astonished. "I thought you said you objected to smoking, Mr. Spurgeon?" one ventured. "Oh no, I did not say I objected. I asked if they were not ashamed, and it appears they were, for they have all put their pipes away." Amid laughter the pipes reappeared, and with puffs of smoke the party went on merrily.
~ William Williams, quoted in Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Personal Reminiscences (1895).

If you can bring nothing to this place
but your carcass, keep out.
~ William Carlos Williams, from Al Que Quiere! A Book of Poems (1917). Dedication for a Plot of Ground

O Marvelous! what new configuration will come next? I am bewildered with multiplicity.
~ William Carlos Williams, At Dawn (1914).

There is something
something urgent
I have to say to you
and you alone
but it must wait
while I drink in
the joy of your approach,
perhaps for the last time.
~ William Carlos Williams, from Journey to Love (1955). Asphodel, That Greeny Flower

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.
~ William Wordsworth, from Lyrical Ballads (1798). The Tables turned; an Evening Scene, on the same subject

Is it some party in a parlour,
Crammed just as they on earth were crammed --
Some sipping punch, some sipping tea,
But as you by their faces see
All silent, and all damned?
~ William Wordsworth, Peter Bell

We meet thee, like a pleasant thought,
When such are wanted.
~ William Wordsworth, from Poems in Two Volumes, Volume I (1807). To the Daisy, Part I

Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend
Whose zeal outruns his promise!
~ William Wordsworth, To a Snowdrop (published in 1819)

I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words ...
~ William Butler Yeats, from Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921). Easter, 1916.

We meet always in the deep of the mind, whatever our work, wherever our reverie carries us, that other Will.
~ William Butler Yeats, Per Amica Silentia Lunae (1918). Anima Hominis. VIII

When two close kindred meet
What better than call a dance?
~ William Butler Yeats, from The Wild Swans at Coole (1919 edition). The Cat and the Moon