Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sternewas an Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He wrote the novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, and also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics. Sterne died in London after years of fighting consumption...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth24 November 1713
CountryIreland
Laurence Sterne quotes about
silly men world
Did ever woman, since the creation of the world, interrupt a man with such a silly question?
hypocrite criticism may
Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world - though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst - the cant of criticism is the most tormenting!
forgiveness brave forgiving
Only the brave know how to forgive
perseverance names causes
'Tis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause,-and of obstinacy in a bad one.
forgiveness exercise virtue
There are few instances of the exercise of particular virtues which seem harder to attain to, or which appear more amiable and engaging in themselves, than those of moderation and the forgiveness of injuries.
truth father mean
My father, whose way was to force every event in nature into an hypothesis, by which means never man crucified TRUTH at the rate he did.
human-nature humans profession
Human nature is the same in all professions.
hypocrisy religion christianity
There is not a greater paradox in nature,--than that so good a religion [as Christianity] should be no better recommended by its professors.
doors mountain literature
I once asked a hermit in Italy how he could venture to live alone, in a single cottage, on the top of a mountain, a mile from any habitation? He replied, that Providence was his next-door neighbor.
imagination mind plight
When a poor disconsolated drooping creature is terrified from all enjoyment,--prays without ceasing 'till his imagination is heated,--fasts and mortifies and mopes, till his body is in as bad a plight as his mind; is it a wonder, that the mechanical disturbancesof an empty belly, interpreted by an empty head, should be mistook for [the] workings [of God].
evil half astonishment
Almost one half of our time is spent in telling and hearing evil of one another ... and every hour brings forth something strange and terrible to fill up our discourse and our astonishment.
enemy hundred jokes
For every ten jokes you acquire a hundred enemies.
dwarves size standards
A dwarf who brings a standard along with him to measure his own size, take my word, is a dwarf in more articles than one.
literature asks pens
But this is neither here nor there why do I mention it? Ask my pen, it governs me, I govern not it.