Today there are few people who do not know some part of “Gulliver’s Journeys”, especially the part that takes place in Lilliput.

This work (which is in fact much more extensive and refers to multiple trips of the main character) was written by Jonathan Swift, a well-known Irish writer and clergyman characterized by his satirical criticism of society.

Throughout his life, this author made many observations and reflections on various topics, some of which we include in this article, in which we present a small collection of phrases by Jonathan Swift .

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50 unforgettable sentences by Jonathan Swift

Below are about fifty sentences by Jonathan Swift on various subjects, in some cases taken from his work.

1. May you live every day of his life!

The author expresses the need to live as we want to, moving and acting according to our deepest convictions and desires.

2. The best doctors in the world are: the doctor diet, the doctor rest and the doctor joy

A phrase that reflects some of the most important elements in maintaining health and well-being.

3. When a great genius appears in the world, he can be recognized by this sign: all fools conspire against him

Swift tells us about the envy of those who stand out and the attacks on them by those who do not.

4. Nothing is constant in this world but inconstancy

This phrase reflects that everything is subject to change over time, however sure it is.

5. Books: Children of the Brain

A phrase that reflects that literature is a form of intellectual and emotional expression.

6. A single enemy can do more harm than good than ten friends can do together

Swift believed that those who want to hurt us will be more determined to do so, and we will perceive this more intensely than our relatives tend to do on a regular basis.

7. Most of the amusements that men, children and other animals give are imitations of fighting

The author points out the role of aggression and struggle in nature.

8. We have enough religion to hate each other, but not enough to love each other

Despite being religious, Swift was also critical of faith and its distorted use as an element for confrontation and segregation.

9. Freedom of conscience is understood today not only as the freedom to believe what one wants, but also to be able to propagate that belief

The author indicates that he criticizes the attempt to force the propagation of beliefs.

10. Laws are like spider webs, which catch poor flies and let wasps and bumblebees pass through

The author criticizes the inequity with which laws are applied, which the powerful ignore with little consequence.

11. Vision is the art of seeing invisible things

Knowing how to see, knowing how to go beyond the merely perceptible, allows us to know and appreciate much more what surrounds us as well as to act accordingly.

12. It is an axiom that the one to whom everyone gives second place has undoubted merits to occupy the first place

People who stay close to the top (regardless of what life field we are talking about) often have more than enough capabilities to reach it, sometimes even more than the person who gets first place.

13. Ambition often leads people to perform the most vile tasks. Therefore, to climb, one adopts the same posture as to crawl

The author criticizes those who out of ambition and greed betray, step on and destroy others.

14. Most people are like pins: their heads are not the most important thing

The author criticizes the lack of reflection that most people have, who simply let themselves go without questioning anything.

15. Happy is he who expects nothing because he will always be satisfied

A comment that is ironic about those who have no hopes and expectations, who do not suffer disappointments but will not get great joy either.

16. A man should never be ashamed to admit that he has been wrong, which is as much as saying that today he is wiser than he was yesterday

It is not wrong to make mistakes, and acknowledging that we have done so only makes us capable of accepting and learning from those mistakes.

17. Everyone would like to live a long time, but no one would want to be old

Even though hardly anyone wants to die, we don’t want time to pass and we don’t want to grow old (which, on the other hand, implies living). Maintaining a young and active spirit is essential.

18. Arbitrary power is a natural temptation for a prince, like wine or women for a young man, or bribery for a judge, or greed for the old man, or vanity for the woman

The author expresses the ease with which we can fall into temptation by ignoring any criteria. This includes the facility of the powerful to apply their power at whim without regulating themselves with any moral criteria.

19. Censorship is the tribute a man pays to the public to be eminent

The changes and the daring to break with the established are not usually well seen initially by the majority, having been initially censored great works and discoveries.

20. Satire is a kind of mirror in which those who observe generally discover the faces of everyone but their own, the main reason why it is well received in the world and why so few are offended by it

People often laugh at the satire but do not realize that in many cases it also reflects their own behavior.

21. No wise man ever wanted to be young

The author associates wisdom with experience and youth with the lack of it. The wise man is also capable of seeing that everything has its time, with the time of youth being that of experimentation that has led the wise man to be where he is.

22. Although lying is a universal practice, I don’t remember hearing three good lies in my entire life or even in those who were most celebrated for this faculty

We all lie at times, but this is seldom positive and even the most gifted at it often do not know how to keep their lies.

23. Many people do not know their weakness, but many others do not know their strength

Swift proposes that people tend to either overestimate or underestimate their own capabilities, not recognizing themselves enough.

24. The stoic scheme of meeting our needs by lowering our desires is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes

The author believes that we should strive to fulfill our goals, dreams and desires, however ambitious they may seem, without settling for crumbs.

25. What some people invent, the rest make bigger

This phrase tells us about the transmission of rumors and how as they pass from one person to another they tend to be exaggerated and magnified.

26. I am now trying a very common experiment among modern authors, namely writing about nothing

Swift criticizes the frequent elaboration of texts and digressions that lead nowhere, something very common even today.

27. Watch the flattery. He’s feeding you with an empty spoon.

Vanity is something that most people like to be fed, but in reality it is often used as a method of manipulation without any real benefit.

28. We can observe in the Republic of the Dogs that the whole state enjoys the most absolute peace after an abundant meal, and that civil strife arises between them as soon as a large bone comes into the possession of some main dog, which then deals it out with a few, establishing an oligarchy or keeps it to itself, establishing a tyranny

The author criticizes the political system and the structure of the society in which he lived, with favoritism and the use of power for one’s own benefit.

29. Elders and comets have been revered for the same reason: their long beards and their claims to predict events

Age usually means a greater number of lived experiences, which allow us to compare the past with the present and establish predictions about the future. This is what makes the experience of the elderly so valuable.

30. Naturalists have observed that a flea carries on its body other smaller fleas, which in turn feed on other smaller fleas. And so on to infinity

The author believes that in society we tend to take advantage of each other, so that someone takes advantage of someone but in turn others take advantage of them.

31. Do you want to lose your enemy? Flatter him

Again the author exposes the role of vanity in being manipulated.

32. Whoever walks attentively through the streets will undoubtedly see the happiest faces in the mourning carriages

This phrase reflects the lack of joy and visible dynamism in everyday life, with the dead appearing to be happier when they escape from suffering.

33. The writer who wants to know how he should conduct himself in relation to posterity has only to examine in the old books what he likes and what he regrets most

The author encourages us to learn from the past, and to dare to try new things to achieve new results.

34. Lord, I would like to know who was the madman who invented the kiss

Kissing is one of the most pleasurable acts and one that brings two people closer together.

35. It was a brave man who first ate an oyster

Swift expresses the courage to be the first to do something.

36. It is impossible that something as natural, as necessary, and as universal as death could have been destined for mankind, by providence, as an evil

Human beings are often afraid of death, but this is something natural and we must accept that it will happen to all of us sooner or later.

37. No man will accept advice, but all men will accept money. From which it follows that money is worth more than advice

Criticism of the value placed on money in society, as well as the difficulty of accepting advice and instructions from others

38. I have always believed that no matter how many shots I miss… I will hit the next one

This phrase reflects the need not to be defeated by failure, since with perseverance we can achieve our goals.

39. As love without self-love is capricious and volatile, esteem without love is languid and cold

The author expresses the need to love oneself in order to give love to others, as well as the need to be emotionally involved with those we say love to.

40. Life is a tragedy that we witness for a while, and then we play our part in it

Jonathan Swift indicates that sooner or later we have our role in life, having attended and learned from the experience.

41. The best preacher is the weather, which makes us have those same thoughts that older people tried in vain to get into our heads

As we experience, little by little and with time we can come to understand and think like those who came before us.

42. A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart

While the economy is a part of our lives that we have to take into account, we should not act out of economic interest but out of our convictions and values.

43. Invention is the talent of the young, as judgment is older

It is usually young people who are most interested in experimenting, managing to find new things never before seen due to the motivation, energy, imagination and assumption of risks typical of age, while as we grow up we tend to reach a greater understanding of things and value more risks and benefits.

44. All moments of pleasure are counterbalanced by an equal degree of pain or sadness

In life there are not only good or bad things, but throughout our life cycle we will experience both types of situations.

45. Power is not a blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent

The main objective of power should be the protection of those it directs, trying to achieve a stable and just world for all.

46. Leisure time is time to do something useful

Although it may seem like a contradiction, our free time is usually the time we take most advantage of and in which we do things that are most meaningful to our lives.

47. If a man keeps me at a distance, I take comfort in the fact that he also keeps

Anyone who distances himself from us, in turn, is preventing us from maintaining a relationship that one of the parties does not want to be maintained without us having to make an effort to avoid it.

48. Apollo, the god of medicine, used to send diseases. In the beginning the two offices were one and it is still so

The author establishes a critique against the medicine of the time.

49. Happiness is the privilege of being well cheated

The author establishes a relationship between happiness and ignorance, so that the more ignorant we are of the difficulties, obstacles and hard and painful elements of life the more possible it is to be happy, without worrying.

50. The promises and the crust of the bread were made to be broken

The author considers that rules and promises do not always have to be kept, as circumstances may change.