Jonathan Swift — "The difference between a madman and a sane man is that the madman is in a minori…"
The difference between a madman and a sane man is that the madman is in a minority.
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More from Jonathan Swift
"Argument is the worst of all instruments for the discovery of truth."
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature."
"I desire those politicians who dislike my overture, and may perhaps be so bold to attempt an answer, that they will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at this day think it …"
"When beasts could speak (the learned say They still can do so every day), It seems, they had religion then, As much as now we find in men."
"Books, like friends, should be few and well chosen."
About Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
Anglo-Irish satirist and Dean of Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral whose Gulliver's Travels (1726) and A Modest Proposal (1729) are the canonical English-language satires. Closely associated with Alexander Pope (Scriblerus Club poet and collaborator) and John Gay (Beggar's Opera author and satirical contemporary). For an intellectual contrast, see Daniel Defoe, English Whig journalist and Robinson Crusoe author (1660-1731) — Defoe's Crusoe (1719) celebrates Enlightenment self-reliance and the colonial-mercantile project; Swift's Gulliver (1726) systematically dismantles every form of human pretension Defoe celebrated. The cleanest Augustan Whig-vs-Tory literary pairing — optimistic-empirical vs misanthropic-satirical.
Details
Often attributed to Swift, but the precise source is debated. Similar sentiments appear in his works.
Date: 18th Century
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