Old men and comets have been reverenced for the same reason: their long beards, and pretences to foretell events.

Jonathan Swift

Read Thoughts on Various Subjects at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Comets Space

Author

Jonathan Swift

Source

Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting

Medium

Essay

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1727 1720s 18th century

Occupation

Writer

From

Ireland Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Swift, Jonathan. "Thoughts on Various Subjects." Miscellanies. London: John Morphew, 1727.

Current Citation

Swift, Jonathan. "Thoughts on Various Subjects (1711)." Jonathan Swift: The Essential Writings, edited by Claude Rawson and Ian Higgins. W. W. Norton & Company, 2009.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Jonathan Swift about comets: “Old men and comets have been reverenced for the same reason: their long beards…”
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A quote by Jonathan Swift about comets: “Old men and comets have been reverenced for the same reason: their long beards…”
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A quote by Jonathan Swift about comets: “Old men and comets have been reverenced for the same reason: their long beards…”
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Another quote from the 1720s

The body of
B. Franklin,
Printer;
Like the cover of an old Book,
Its Contents torn out,
And stript of its lettering and gilding,
Lies here, food for worms.
But the work shall not be wholly lost:
For it will, as he believ’d, appear once more,
In a new & more perfect edition,
Corrected and amended
By the Author.

Benjamin Franklin

Read more about Ben Franklin's epitaph at the National Archives website
More information about this quote
Topic
Afterlife

Author

Benjamin Franklin
Source
Epitaph for Himself
Medium
Epitaph
Statement Type
Epitaph Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1728 1720s 18th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. Epitaph for himself. 1728.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Epitaph." Benjamin Franklin: Silence Dogood, The Busy-Body and Early Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.