Truth always originates in a minority of one, and every custom begins as a broken precedent.

The love we have in our youth is superficial compared to the love that an old man has for his old wife.

Can a civilization hold together if man abandons his faith in God?

The crossroads of trade are the meeting place of ideas, the attrition ground of rival customs and beliefs; diversities beget conflict, comparison, thought; superstitions cancel one another, and reason begins.

Which is now a more hopeful statement than Swift intended it to be.

Continue to express your dissent and your needs, but remember to remain civilized, for you will sorely miss civilization if it is sacrified in the turbulence of change.

If you wish to be loved, be modest; if you wish to be admired, be proud; if you wish both, combine external modesty with internal pride.