How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice when they will not so much as take warning.
Jonathan SwiftRead
What vexes me most is, that my female friends, who could bear me very well a dozen years ago, have now forsaken me, although I am not so old in proportion to them as I formerly was: which I can prove by arithmetic, for then I was double their age, which now I am not. Letter to Alexander Pope. 7 Feb. 1736.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The speaker laments the loss of friendships with women who once valued their companionship, questioning why this has changed over time.
In this quote, Jonathan Swift reflects on the nature of friendships and how they can change as people age. He notes with irony that despite the passage of time, he feels he is not as old in relation to his female friends as he once was, suggesting that societal perceptions of age and worth in friendships can shift, leading to feelings of abandonment and confusion.
Themes
FriendshipLossAgeChangePerception
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in a discussion about the evolution of friendships over time.
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All quotes →This is every cook's opinion - _x000D_ no savory dish without an onion, _x000D_ but lest your kissing should be spoiled _x000D_ your onions must be fully boiled.
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The bulk of mankind is as well equipped for flying as thinking.
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This single Stick, which you now behold ingloriously lying in that neglected Corner, I once knew in a flourishing State in a Forest: It was full of Sap, full of Leaves, and full of Boughs: But now, in vain does the busy Art of Man pretend to vie with Nature, by tying that withered Bundle of Twigs to its sapless Trunk: It is at best but the Reverse of what it was; a Tree turned upside down, the Branches on the Earth, and the Root in the Air.
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I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.
Jonathan SwiftRead
When we desire or solicit anything, our minds run wholly on the good side or circumstances of it; when it is obtained, our minds run wholly on the bad ones.
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