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Daniel Defoe QUOTES

Daniel Defoe QUOTES

1 " Thus the Government of our Virtue was broken and I exchang'd the Place of Friend for that unmusical harsh-sounding Title of Whore. "

― Daniel Defoe , Moll Flanders

2 " The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. "

― Daniel Defoe

3 " I had great Reason to consider it as a Determination of Heaven, that in this desolate Place, and in this desolate Manner I should end my life; the Tears would run plentifully down my Face when I made these Reflections, and sometimes I would expostulate with myself, Why Providence should thus compleately ruine its Creatures, and render them so absolutely miserable, so without Help abandon'd, so entirely depress'd, that it could be hardly rational to be thankful for such a Life. "

― Daniel Defoe

4 " He look'd a little disorder'd, when he said this, but I did not apprehend any thing from it at that time, believing as it us'd to be said, that they who do those things never talk of them; or that they who talk of such things never do them. "

― Daniel Defoe , Moll Flanders

5 " When kings the sword of justice first lay down,
They are no kings, though they possess the crown.
Titles are shadows, crowns are empty things,
The good of subjects is the end of kings. "

― Daniel Defoe , The True-Born Englishman: A Satyr

6 " ...I should always find that the calamities of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind, but that the middle station had the fewest disasters,... "

― Daniel Defoe

7 " ...I should always find, the calamities of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind; but that middle station had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind; nay, they were not subjected to so many distempers and uneasinesses either of body or mind, as those were who, by vicious living, luxury, and extravagances on one hand, or by hard labor, want of necessaries, and mean or insufficient diet on the other hand, bring distempers upon themselves by the natural consequences of their way of living; that the middle station of life was calculated for all kind of virtues and all kind of enjoyments; that peace and plenty were the handmaids of a middle fortune; that temperance, moderation, quietness, health, society, all agreeable diversions, and all desirable pleasures, were the blessings attending the middle station of life... "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

8 " In the first place , I was removed from all the wickedness of the world here. I had neither the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life. I had nothing to covet; for I had all that I was now capable of enjoying. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

9 " Diligence and Application have their due Encouragement, even in the remotest Parts of the World, and that no Case can be so low, so despicable, or so empty of Prospect, but that an unwearied Industry will go a great way to deliver us from it, will in time raise the meanest Creature to appear again in the World, and give him a new Case for his Life. "

― Daniel Defoe , Moll Flanders

10 " Those people cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them because they see and covet what He has not given them. All of our discontents for what we want appear to me to spring from want of thankfulness for what we have. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

11 " It is never too late to be wise. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

12 " Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

13 " I saw the Cloud, though I did not foresee the Storm. "

― Daniel Defoe , Moll Flanders

14 " Thus we never see the true state of our condition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries, nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by the want of it. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

15 " I have since often observed, how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind is, especially of youth ... that 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 only can make them be esteemed wise men. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

16 " I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed, rather than what I wanted : and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them ; and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that he has not given them. All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

17 " Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself when apparent to the eyes ; and we find the burden of anxiety greater, by much, than the evil which we are anxious about : ... "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

18 " It put me upon reflecting how little repining there would be among mankind at any condition of life, if people would rather compare their condition with those that were worse, in order to be thankful, than be always comparing them with those which are better, to assist their murmurings and complaining. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

19 " Redemption from sin is greater then redemption from affliction. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)

20 " All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have. "

― Daniel Defoe , Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe, #1)