How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice when they will not so much as take warning.
Jonathan SwiftRead
I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote humorously suggests that aging is tied to one's experiences, represented by the tongue, while the teeth symbolize physical age.
In this witty remark, Jonathan Swift plays with the concept of aging by linking it to the tongue and teeth. The tongue, known for its role in communication and expression, reflects a person's wealth of experiences and wisdom, while indicating that the speaker is slightly older in age than just the physical signs of aging represented by teeth. Thus, it serves as a humorous take on the subjective nature of age.
Themes
AgeHumorWisdomExperiencesAging
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is great for making light of getting older during a birthday speech.
More from Jonathan Swift
All quotes βWhat 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.
Jonathan SwiftRead
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.
Jonathan SwiftRead
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.
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.
Jonathan SwiftRead
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