Jonathan Swift — "The only difference between a wise man and a fool is that a wise man knows he is…"
The only difference between a wise man and a fool is that a wise man knows he is a fool, and a fool thinks he is wise.
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More from Jonathan Swift
"And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more…"
"The power of fortune is confessed only by the miserable, for the happy impute all their success to prudence or merit."
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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
Attributed, but no direct textual source found. Appears in various collections of Swift quotes.
Date: 18th Century
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