“I said the thing which was not.”

—  Jonathan Swift , book Les Voyages de Gulliver

For they have no word in their language to express lying or falsehood.
Voyage to Houyhnhnms, Ch. 3
Gulliver's Travels (1726)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I said the thing which was not." by Jonathan Swift?
Jonathan Swift photo
Jonathan Swift 141
Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, and poet 1667–1745

Related quotes

Kurt Vonnegut photo

“We're having a celebration, so all sorts of things have been said which are not true," I said. "That's how to act at a party.”

Kurt Vonnegut book Bluebeard

Bluebeard (1987)

Yogi Berra photo

“I never said most of the things I said.”

Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American baseball player, manager, coach

“In one gallery they actually had a notice which said "No Sketching." How obnoxious! I said, "How do you think these things got on the walls if there was no sketching?"”

David Hockney (1937) British artist

"Portrait of the Artist as a Naughty Boy," interview with John Mortimer, In Character (1983), p. 97
1980s

“I wish," he said, "I had known at eighteen what I know now - that there are some things on which one does not compromise.”

Mary Balogh (1944) Welsh-Canadian novelist

Source: Simply Perfect

Fred Astaire photo

“When I was in the Soviet Union recently I was being interviewed by a newspaperman and he said, "Which dancers influenced you the most?" and I said, "Oh, well, Fred Astaire." He looked very surprised and shocked and I said, "What's the matter?" He said, "Well, Mr. Balanchine just said the same thing."”

Fred Astaire (1899–1987) American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter

Jerome Robbins in Heeley, David, producer and director. Fred Astaire: Puttin' on his Top Hat and Fred Astaire: Change Partners and Dance (two television programs written by John L. Miller), PBS, March 1980. (M).

Brandon Sanderson photo

“Go,” Marasi said. “Do what you do best, Waxillium Ladrian.”
“Which is what? Break things?”
“Break things,” Marasi said, “with style.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Bands of Mourning

“"Unprintable things!" I said - only I didn't say that. I really said them.”

Diana Wynne Jones book The Homeward Bounders

Source: The Homeward Bounders (1981), p. 56.

“I set out by challenging conventional wisdom. They said the turntable didn't matter; I said it was critical. They said the speaker was the most important thing; I said it was the last thing to worry about. So I started off in conflict in an industry where few people understood the mechanical things and the recording aspects of the business.”

Ivor Tiefenbrun (1946) Scottish businessman

Interview with David Lander http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/1101ivor. Stereophile, 30 November 2003.
2003

“Then he asked if I didn’t like things changing. And I said I wouldn’t mind things changing if I became an astronaut, for example, which is one of the biggest changes you can imagine, apart from becoming a girl or dying.”

Mark Haddon book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Source: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Jerry Seinfeld photo

“Do you know the first thing I said as a child, before I said "Mama" or "Dada"? I said "Leave me alone!"”

Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor

(laughs) Is that not the mantra of stand-up comedy?
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (2012 — Present), Season 3 (2014)

Related topics