Aging Quote by Jonathan Swift

"There cannot live a more unhappy creature than an ill-natured old man, who is neither capable of receiving pleasures, nor sensible of conferring them on others"

Jonathan Swift, Writer

About this Quote

This thought-provoking quote is attributed to Jonathan Swift, a renowned writer from Ireland. Explore 63 more inspiring quotes by Jonathan to discover their perspective on aging, life, and more.

Quote Details

Topic	Aging
Source	Help us find the source
Cite

More Quotes by Jonathan Add to List

About the Author

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 - October 19, 1745) was a Writer from Ireland.

63 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

"A healthy old fellow, who is not a fool, is the happiest creature living"

Gerald Brenan, Writer

"He who must expend his life to prolong life cannot enjoy it, and he who is still seeking for his life does not have it and can as little enjoy it"

Max Stirner, Philosopher

"Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures"

Thomas Aquinas, Theologian

Thomas Aquinas

"Even among the married, sexual satisfaction must not be sought in a way which disregards man's character as a person and degrades him to the animal level"

Francis Arinze, Clergyman

"It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure"

Tacitus, Historian

Tacitus

"He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts"

Samuel Johnson, Author

Samuel Johnson

"Doing nothing is happiness for children and misery for old men"

Victor Hugo, Author

Victor Hugo

"Man is the only animal whose desires increase as they are fed; the only animal that is never satisfied"

Henry George, Economist

"Man is not constituted to take pleasure in the same things always"

Sophocles, Author

Sophocles

"The rare pleasure of being seen for what one is, compensates for the misery of being it"

Margaret Drabble, Novelist

"A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own"

Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poet

Percy Bysshe Shelley

"The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness"

Virginia Woolf, Author

Virginia Woolf

"A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering"

G. I. Gurdjieff, Educator

"You needn't tell me that a man who doesn't love oysters and asparagus and good wines has got a soul, or a stomach either. He's simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed"

Hector Hugh Munro, Novelist

"Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another"

Madonna Ciccone, Entertainer

Madonna Ciccone

"Only mediocrity of enjoyment is allowed to man"

Hugh Blair, Theologian

"One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken"

Leo Tolstoy, Novelist

Leo Tolstoy

"Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire"

Quintilian, Educator

"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions"

Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet

"Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth"

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright

W. Somerset Maugham