Jonathan Swift

Walls have tongues, and hedges ears.

Walls have tongues, and hedges ears.

Convey a libel in a frown.
And wink a reputation down!

Convey a libel in a frown.
And wink a reputation down!

So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still read more

So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum.
Thus every poet in his kind
Is bit by him that comes behind.

A bad man becomes worse when he apes a saint.

A bad man becomes worse when he apes a saint.

He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams
out of cucumbers, which were to be put read more

He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams
out of cucumbers, which were to be put in phials hermetically
sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw, inclement summers.