Daniel Defoe: Quotes about men

Daniel Defoe was English trader, writer and journalist. Explore interesting quotes on men.

Daniel Defoe: 86 quotes13 likes

“He that hath truth on his side is a fool as well as a coward if he is afraid to own it because fo other mens's opinions.”

“Tis very strange Men should be so fond of being thought wickeder than they are.”

A System of Magick (1726).

“Hail, hieroglyphic State machine,
Contrived to punish fancy in;
Men that are men in thee can feel no pain,
And all thy insignificance disdain!”

Hymn to the Pillory (1703).

“The best of men cannot suspend their fate:
The good die early, and the bad die late.”

Character of the Late Dr. S. Annesley (1715).

“For I cannot think that God Almighty ever made them so delicate, so glorious creatures; and furnished them with such charms, so agreeable and so delightful to mankind; with souls capable of the same accomplishments with men: and all, to be only Stewards of our Houses, Cooks, and Slaves.”

The Education of Women (1719)

“All men would be tyrants if they could.”

Jure divino: a satyre, Introduction, l. 2 (1706).

“I have since often observed, how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind is, especially of youth, to that reason which ought to guide them in such cases - viz. they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent. Not ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are ashamed of the returning, which can only make them be esteemed wise men.”

Source: Robinson Crusoe (1719), Ch. 1, Start in Life.