Jonathan Swift Quotes
- There is nothing in this world constant, but inconstancy. - View Quote Details on There is nothing in this world constant, but inconstancy.
- I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed. - View Quote Details on I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often…
- Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent. - View Quote Details on Censure is the tax a man pays to the public…
- (On leaving money to found a psychiatric hospital in Dublin) No nation needs it so much. - View Quote Details on (On leaving money to found a psychiatric hospital in Dublin)…
- …promises and pie-crust are made to be broken. - View Quote Details on …promises and pie-crust are made to be broken.
- Ubi saeva indignatio ulterius cor lacerare nequit - View Quote Details on Ubi saeva indignatio ulterius cor lacerare nequit
- He (the Emperor) is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court, which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders. - View Quote Details on He (the Emperor) is taller by almost the breadth of…
- Pride, ill nature, and want of sense, are the three great sources of ill manners. - View Quote Details on Pride, ill nature, and want of sense, are the three…
- Yet malice never was his aim;
He lashed the vice but spared the name.
No individual could resent,
Where thousands equally were meant.
His satire points at no defect
But what all mortals may correct;
For he abhorred that senseless tribe
Who call it humor when they gibe. - View Quote Details on Yet malice never was his aim;
He lashed the vice but… - Libertas et natale solum:
Fine words! I wonder where you stole ‘em. - View Quote Details on Libertas et natale solum:
Fine words! I wonder where you stole… - Men are contented to be laughed at for their wit, but not for their folly. - View Quote Details on Men are contented to be laughed at for their wit,…
- As love without esteem is volatile and capricious; esteem without love is languid and cold. - View Quote Details on As love without esteem is volatile and capricious; esteem without…
- Fingers were made before forks, and hands before knives. - View Quote Details on Fingers were made before forks, and hands before knives.
- I thought you and he were hand-in-glove. - View Quote Details on I thought you and he were hand-in-glove.
- Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness, yet perhaps as 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. - View Quote Details on Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness,…
- The sight of you is good for sore eyes. - View Quote Details on The sight of you is good for sore eyes.
- I hate nobody: I am in charity with the world. - View Quote Details on I hate nobody: I am in charity with the world.
- ‘Tis as cheap sitting as standing. - View Quote Details on ‘Tis as cheap sitting as standing.
- Nothing is so great an instance of ill manners as flattery. If you flatter all the company, you please none; if you flatter only one or two, you affront the rest. - View Quote Details on Nothing is so great an instance of ill manners as…
- The latter part of a wise person’s life is occupied with curing the follies, prejudices and false opinions they contracted earlier.” - View Quote Details on The latter part of a wise person’s life is occupied…
- I have always believed no matter how many shots I miss, I’m going to make the next one. - View Quote Details on I have always believed no matter how many shots I…
- I have one word to say upon the subject of profound writers, who are grown very numerous of late; and I know very well the judicious world is resolved to list me in that number. I conceive therefore, as to the business of being profound, that it is with writers as with wells - a person with good eyes may see to the bottom of the deepest, provided any water be there: and often when there is nothing in the world at the bottom besides dryness and dirt, though it be but a yard and a-half under-ground, it shall pass, however, for wondrous deep upon no wiser reason than because it is wondrous dark. - View Quote Details on I have one word to say upon the subject of…
- She’s no chicken; she’s on the wrong side of thirty, if she be a day. - View Quote Details on She’s no chicken; she’s on the wrong side of thirty,…
- Faith! he must make his stories shorter or change his comrades once a quarter. - View Quote Details on Faith! he must make his stories shorter or change his…
- In church your grandsire cut his throat; to do the job too long he tarried: he should have had my hearty vote to cut his throat before he married. - View Quote Details on In church your grandsire cut his throat; to do the…
- The power of fortune is confessed only by the miserable; for the happy impute all their success to prudence or merit. - View Quote Details on The power of fortune is confessed only by the miserable;…
- She wears her clothes, as if they were thrown on her with a pitchfork. - View Quote Details on She wears her clothes, as if they were thrown on…
- If Heaven had looked upon riches to be a valuable thing, it would not have given them to such a scoundrel. - View Quote Details on If Heaven had looked upon riches to be a valuable…
- Ambition often puts men upon doing the meanest offices; so climbing is performed in the same posture with creeping. - View Quote Details on Ambition often puts men upon doing the meanest offices; so…
- A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter. - View Quote Details on A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for…
- Positiveness is a good quality for preachers and orators, because he that would obtrude his thoughts and reasons upon a multitude, will convince others the more, as he appears convinced himself. - View Quote Details on Positiveness is a good quality for preachers and orators, because…
- He was a bold man that first ate an oyster. - View Quote Details on He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.
- And surely one of the best rules in conversation is, never to say a thing which any of the company can reasonably wish had been left unsaid… - View Quote Details on And surely one of the best rules in conversation is,…
- I won’t quarrel with my bread and butter. - View Quote Details on I won’t quarrel with my bread and butter.
- Invention is the talent of youth, and judgment of age… - View Quote Details on Invention is the talent of youth, and judgment of age…
- Poor Nations are hungry, and rich Nations are proud, and Pride and Hunger will ever be at Variance. - View Quote Details on Poor Nations are hungry, and rich Nations are proud, and…
- She has more goodness in her little finger, than he has in his whole body. - View Quote Details on She has more goodness in her little finger, than he…
- I love good creditable acquaintance; I love to be the worst of the company. - View Quote Details on I love good creditable acquaintance; I love to be the…
- I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout. - View Quote Details on I have been assured by a very knowing American of…
- For, in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery: but in fact, eleven men well armed will certainly subdue one single man in his shirt. - View Quote Details on For, in reason, all government without the consent of the…
- Vision is the art of seeing things invisible. - View Quote Details on Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.
- Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. - View Quote Details on Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but…
- That’s as well said, as if I had said it myself. - View Quote Details on That’s as well said, as if I had said it…
- But nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want. - View Quote Details on But nothing is so hard for those who abound in…
About Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 - 19 October 1745 ) was an Irish writer and satirist. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, although he is also well known for his poetry and essays.
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