I've put aside my Johnson and taken up The Portable Swift, half of which consists of Gulliver. In college, or somewhere, I read "A Modest Proposal" and "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift," and that is nearly all I know of Swift. I think I might have gotten sidetracked when, reading "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift," I wondered about this fellow La Rochefoucauld who appears in the first line. I found his maxims and never got back to Swift. Here is a sampling of said maxims. He really ought to be better known.
We all have strength enough to bear the misfortunes of others.
For most of mankind, love of justice is nothing more than the fear of suffering injustice.
The old love to give good advice, to console themselves for no longer being in a condition to give bad examples.
We would scarcely ever enjoy ourselves, if we never flattered ourselves.
To refuse praise means that you want to be praised twice.
No matter how many nice things they say about us, we never learn anything new.
Our enemies come closer in their judgments about us than we ever do about ourselves.
In the misfortunes of our friends, we always find something not displeasing.
A short biography, with a small collection of other of his maxims, is here. If Swift is a kindred spirit I am going to be enjoying my coffee breaks.
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