Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swiftwas an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth30 November 1667
CountryIreland
bit food maxim men tis
Tis an old maxim in the schools, That flattery's the food of fools; Yet now and then your men of wit, Will condescend to take a bit
block men want
Small causes are sufficient to make a man uneasy, when great ones are not in the way: for want of a block he will stumble at a straw.
age-and-aging god grow men merely sacrifice virtuous
When men grow virtuous in their old age, they are merely making a sacrifice to God of the Devil's leavings
contented folly laughed men
Men are contented to be laughed at for their wit, but not for their folly
men attention inattention
I never knew any man cured of inattention.
revenge men practice
There are but three ways for a man to revenge himself of the censure of the world,--to despise it, to return the like, or to endeavor to live so as to avoid it; the first of these is usually pretended, the last is almost impossible, the universal practice is for the second.
revenge men understanding
Neither is it safe to count upon the weakness of any man's understanding, who is thoroughly possessed of the spirit of revenge to sharpen his invention.
passion men wavering
How often do we contradict the right rules of reason in the whole course of our lives! Reason itself is true and just, but the reason of every particular man is weak and wavering, perpetually swayed and turned by his interests, his passions, and his vices.
drama men play
Men of wit, learning and virtue might strike out every offensive or unbecoming passage from plays.
strength men gold
It is in men as in soils where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not.
strength men knowing
Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness, yet perhaps few know their own strength. It is in men as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not of.
acceptance men religion
It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.
cute men long
Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.
food men oysters
He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.