Quotes by Laurence Sterne

Laurence Sterne

Laurence Sterne

British author

Lived from: 1713 - 1768

Category: Theologians and clergy | Writers (Contemporary) Country: FlagUnited Kingdom

Born: 24 november 1713 Died: 18 march 1768

  • Positiveness is an absurd foible. If you are in the right, it lessens your triumph; if in the wrong, it adds shame to your defeat.
  • So long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King's highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him - pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?

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  • Our passion and principals are constantly in a frenzy, but begin to shift and waver, as we return to reason.
    ― Laurence Sterne
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  • 'Tis no extravagant arithmetic to say, that for every ten jokes, thou hast got an hundred enemies; and till thou hast gone on, and raised a swarm of wasps about thine ears, and art half stung to death by them, thou wilt never be convinced it is so.
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  • A large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life, by him who interests his heart in everything.
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  • All womankind, from the highest to the lowest love jokes; the difficulty is to know how they choose to have them cut; and there is no knowing that, but by trying, as we do with our artillery in the field, by raising or letting down their breeches, till we hit the mark.
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  • For every ten jokes you acquire a hundred enemies.
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  • I am persuaded that every time a man smiles, but much more so when he laughs, it adds something to this fragment of life.
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  • I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me.
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  • Lessons of wisdom have the most power over us when they capture the heart through the groundwork of a story, which engages the passions.
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  • Men tire themselves in pursuit of rest.
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  • Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas.
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  • Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world - though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst - the cant of criticism is the most tormenting!
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  • One may as well be asleep as to read for anything but to improve his mind and morals, and regulate his conduct.
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  • Only the brave know how to forgive; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at.
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  • Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other.
    ― Laurence Sterne
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  • Positiveness is an absurd foible. If you are in the right, it lessens your triumph; if in the wrong, it adds shame to your defeat.
    ― Laurence Sterne
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  • Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.
    ― Laurence Sterne
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  • So long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King's highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him - pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?
    ― Laurence Sterne
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  • The desire of knowledge, like the thirst for riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.
    ― Laurence Sterne
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  • The history of a soldier's wound beguiles the pain of it.
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  • There are worse occupations in this world than feeling a woman's pulse.
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Questions and Answers

What are the most famous quotes from Laurence Sterne?

The two most famous quotes from Laurence Sterne are:

  • "Our passion and principals are constantly in a frenzy, but begin to shift and waver, as we return to reason."
  • "'Tis no extravagant arithmetic to say, that for every ten jokes, thou hast got an hundred enemies; and till thou hast gone on, and raised a swarm of wasps about thine ears, and art half stung to death by them, thou wilt never be convinced it is so."

When did Laurence Sterne live?

Laurence Sterne was born in 1713 and died in the year 1768.