"'Tis an old maxim in the schools, That flattery's the food of fools; Yet now and then your men of wit Will condescend to take a bit."

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on food by Jonathan Swift resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in food is what ultimately defines our character and our path forward.

About Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. He was the author of the satirical prose novel Gulliver's Travels (1726) and the creator of the fictional island of Lilliput. He is regarded by many as the greatest satirist of the Georgian era and one of the foremost prose authors in the history of English and world literature.

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Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Jonathan Swift

"Nothing is so great an example of bad manners as flattery. If you flatter all the company, you please none; If you flatter only one or two, you offend the rest."

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More about Food

"An idea is a delicate seed; water it with curiosity and protect it from cynicism — an essential principle for the reflective life."

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"When two kids are being completely berserk, and they're naked and throwing food around, sometimes I just let it go because I can see a future where they're going to be dressed, and they're going to be at school. So I kind of let stuff go sometimes."

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"In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes so with present time."

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