Jonathan Swift

Born this day in 1667 – Jonathan Swift, Irish satirist, essayist, and Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

He is remembered for "A Tale of a Tub," " An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity," Gulliver's Travels," and "A Modest Proposal."

His prose satire was and is considered among the best in the English language.

"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own."

"Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect: like a man, who hath thought of a good repartee when the discourse is changed, or the company parted; or like a physician, who hath found out an infallible medicine, after the patient is dead."

"Conversation is but carving!
Give no more to every guest
Than he's able to digest.
Give him always of the prime,
And but little at a time.
Carve to all but just enough,
Let them neither starve nor stuff,
And that you may have your due,
Let your neighbor carve for you."