Quotes from Laurence Sterne
I once asked a hermit in Italy how he could venture to live alone, in a single cottage, on the top of a mountain, a mile from any habitation? He replied, that Providence was his next-door neighbor.
— Laurence Sterne
An English man does not travel to see English men.
— Laurence Sterne
I won't go about to argue the point with you,—'tis so,—and I am persuaded of it, madam, as much as can be, That both man and woman bear pain or sorrow, (and, for aught I know, pleasure too) best in a horizontal position.
— Laurence Sterne
There have been no sects in the Christian world, however absurd, which have not endeavoured to support their opinions by arguments drawn from Scripture.
— Laurence Sterne
Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world - though the cant of hypocrites ihay be the worst - the cant of criticism is the most tormenting.
— Laurence Sterne
I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry, 'Tis all barren--and so it is; and so is all the world to him who will not cultivate the fruits it offers.
— Laurence Sterne
So much of motion, is so much of life, and so much of joy, and to stand still, or get on but slowly, is death and the devil.
— Laurence Sterne
Lessons of wisdom have the most power over us when they capture the heart through the groundwork of a story, which engages the passions.
— Laurence Sterne
I am pursuaded of it, madam, as much as can be, That both man and woman bear pain or sorrow, (and, for aught I know, pleasure too) best in a horizontal position.
— Laurence Sterne
Religion which lays so many restraints upon us, is a troublesome companion to those who will lay no restraints upon themselves.
— Laurence Sterne
"Our armies swore terribly in Flanders," cried my uncle Toby—"but nothing to this."
— Laurence Sterne
An English man does not travel to see English men.
— Laurence Sterne