Jonathan Swift Quotes

Quotes about:

• When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.

  Jonathan Swift

  Funny, Education, Truth

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  90 Copy quote

• You cannot reason a person out of something they were not reasoned into.

  Jonathan Swift

  Reason, Persons

  26 Copy quote

• You should never be ashamed to admit you have been wrong. It only proves you are wiser today than yesterday

  Jonathan Swift

  Writing, Yesterday, Rejection

  82 Copy quote

• We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.

  Jonathan Swift

  Love, Religious, Hate

  'Thoughts on Various Subjects' (1706)

  113 Copy quote

• Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect.

  Jonathan Swift

  Men, Too Late, Limping

  Jonathan Swift, John Hawkesworth (1784). “The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin: Including the Whole of His Posthumous Pieces, Letters, &c”, p.15

  46 Copy quote

• Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending. May you live all the days of your life.

  Jonathan Swift

  Opportunity, May, Happy Endings

  14 Copy quote

• Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.

  Jonathan Swift

  Inspirational, Law, Break Through

  A Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind (1709) See Anacharsis 1

  115 Copy quote

• There are few wild beasts more to be dreaded than a talking man having nothing to say.

  Jonathan Swift

  Men, Talking, Beast

  55 Copy quote

• You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

  Jonathan Swift

  Ears, Purses, Turnips

  Jonathan Swift (1856). “The Works of Jonathan Swift ...: Containing Interesting and Valuable Papers, Not Hitherto Published ... With Memoir of the Author”, p.349

  7 Copy quote

• Vision is the Art of seeing Things invisible.

  Jonathan Swift

  Inspirational, Leadership, Teacher

  "Thoughts on various subjects (Further thoughts on various subjects)". Book by Jonathan Swift, 1745.

  100 Copy quote

• Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.

  Jonathan Swift

  Cute, Men, Long

  45 Copy quote

• Live every day as your last, because one of these days, it will be.

  Jonathan Swift

  Lasts, These Days, Live Every Day

  13 Copy quote

• Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent.

  Jonathan Swift

  Blessed, Blessing, Power

  38 Copy quote

• Brisk talkers are generally slow thinkers.

  Jonathan Swift

  Talking, Thinker, Talkers

  8 Copy quote

• The ruin of a State is generally preceded by an universal degeneracy of manners and contempt of religion.

  Jonathan Swift

  Ruins, Manners, States

  Jonathan Swift, Thomas Roscoe (1859). “The works of Jonathan Swift, D.D.: with copious notes and additions and a memoir of the author”, p.244

  12 Copy quote

• The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman.

  Jonathan Swift

  Inspirational, Funny, Humorous

  Jonathan Swift (1761). “The Works of Dr Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin. Accurately Corrected by the Best Editions. With the Author's Life and Character; Notes Historical, Critical, and Explanatory; Tables of Contents, and Indexes. More Complete Than Any Preceding Edition. In Eight Volumes”, p.323

  18 Copy quote

• For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.

  Jonathan Swift

  Government, Slavery, Definitions

  The Drapier's Letters no. 4 (1724)

  105 Copy quote

• In men desire begets love, and in women love begets desire.

  Jonathan Swift

  Love, Men, Desire

  Jonathan Swift, John Hawkesworth (1766). “Letters, Written by the Late Jonathan Swift ... and Several of His Friends: From the Year 1703-to 1740. Published from the Originals; with Notes Explanatory and Historical”, p.117

  6 Copy quote

• We are so fond on one another because our ailments are the same.

  Jonathan Swift

  Literature, Affection, Ailments

  'Journal to Stella' (published in 'Works', 1768) 1 February 1711

  10 Copy quote

• Many a truth is told in jest.

  Jonathan Swift

  Wisdom, Truth Is, Jest

  17 Copy quote

• Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want.

  Jonathan Swift

  Friendship, Family, Wisdom

  Jonathan Swift (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Jonathan Swift (Illustrated)”, p.1168, Delphi Classics

  33 Copy quote

• Vanity is a mark of humility rather than of pride.

  Jonathan Swift

  Humility, Pride, Vanity

  Jonathan Swift, Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols (1808). “Works”, p.443

  12 Copy quote

• Men are happy to be laughed at for their humor, but not for their folly.

  Jonathan Swift

  Humor, Men, Laughing

  9 Copy quote

• I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.

  Jonathan Swift

  Tongue, Teeth, Littles

  Jonathan Swift (1856). “The Works of Jonathan Swift ...: Containing Interesting and Valuable Papers, Not Hitherto Published ... With Memoir of the Author”, p.336

  13 Copy quote

• I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.

  Jonathan Swift

  Men, Evil, Guilt

  Jonathan Swift (1850). “The Works of Jonathan Swift: Containing Interesting and Valuable Papers, Not Hitherto Published ; with a Memoir of the Author”, p.307

  28 Copy quote

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