The best of men cannot suspend their fate; The good die early, and the bad die late. Daniel Defoe More Quotes by Daniel Defoe More Quotes From Daniel Defoe He that is rich is wise. Daniel Defoe richwealthwise It is men of desperate fortunes on the one hand, or of aspiring, superior fortunes on the other, who go abroad upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in undertakings of a nature out of the common road. Daniel Defoe adventuremenhands As I had once done thus in my breaking away from my Parents, so I could not be content now, but I must go and leave the happy View I had of being a rich and thriving Man in my new Plantation, only to pursue a rash and immoderate Desire of rising faster than the Nature of the Thing admitted; and thus I cast my self down again into the deepest Gulph of human Misery that ever Man fell into, or perhaps could be consistent with Life and a State of Health in the World. Daniel Defoe selfviewsmen We are very fond of some families because they can be traced beyond the Conquest, whereas indeed the farther back, the worse, as being the nearer allied to a race of robbers and thieves. Daniel Defoe ancestrythievesrace In their religion they are so uneven, Daniel Defoe menheavenreligion As for women that do not think their own safety worth their thought, that impatient of their present state, resolve as they call it to take the first good Christian that comes; that runs into matrimony, as a horse rushes into battle; I can say nothing to them, but this, that they are a sort of ladies that are to be pray'd for among the rest of distemper'd people; and to me they look like people that venture their whole estates in a lottery where there is a hundred thousand blanks to one prize. Daniel Defoe horsechristianrunning This grieved me heartily ; and now I saw, though too late, the folly of beginning a work before we count the cost, and before we judge rightly of our own strength to go through with it. Daniel Defoe costjudgingtoo-late I know not what to call this, nor will I urge that it is a secret, overruling decree, that hurries us on to be the instruments of our own destruction, even though it be before us, and that we rush upon it with our eyes open. Daniel Defoe destructioneyesecret Reason, it is true, is DICTATOR in the Society of Mankind; from her there ought to lie no Appeal; But here we want a Pope in our Philosophy, to be the infallible Judge of what is or is not Reason. Daniel Defoe judgingphilosophylying Now, said I aloud, My dear Father's Words are come to pass: God's Justice has overtaken me, and I have none to help or hear me: I rejected the Voice of Providence. Daniel Defoe voicejusticefather Wit, like the Belly, if it be not fed, Will starve the Members, and distract the Head. Daniel Defoe fedswitmembers An Englishman will fairly drink as much As will maintain two families of Dutch. Daniel Defoe dutchliteraturetwo I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho' not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull; He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, whose Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family in that Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call ourselves, and write our Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call'd me. Daniel Defoe mothercountryfather My True Name is so well known in the Records, or Registers at Newgate, and in the Old-Baily, and there are some things of such Consequence still depending there, relating to my particular Conduct, that it is not to be expected I should set my Name, or the Account of my Family to this Work; perhaps, after my Death it may be better known, at present it would not be proper, no, not tho' a general Pardon should be issued, even without Exceptions and reserve of Persons or Crimes. Daniel Defoe recordsnamesbook Justice is always violent to the party offending, for every man is innocent in his own eyes. Daniel Defoe When kings the sword of justice first lay down; They art no kings, though they posess the crown; Titles are shadows, crowns are empty things, The good of subjects is the end of kings. Daniel Defoe
