The quotations of

Jonathan Swift

Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist

1667–1745

36 quotes, most often on Clever Jabs, Laws and Comedy. Part of the Writers collection.

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 fricasee, or a ragoust.
A Modest Proposal (1729)In context
They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man’s goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning
Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput, Chapter VIIn context
- Laws
- Truth & Lies
A traveller’s chief aim should be to make men wiser and better, and to improve their minds by the bad, as well as good, example of what they deliver concerning foreign places.
Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Part IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms, Chapter XIIIn context
- Wisdom
- Writing
It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.
A Modest Proposal (1729)In context
- Charity
- Children
I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.
A Modest Proposal (1729)In context
- Clever Jabs
- Comedy
I profess in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the publick good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich.
A Modest Proposal (1729)In context
- Comedy

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