Jonathan Swift
Biography
(1667-1745)
Essays by Jonathan Swift
The truest way to understand conversation is to know the faults and errors to which it is subject, and from thence every man to form maxims to himself whereby it may be regulated.
I sighed, and said within myself, “Surely mortal man is a broomstick!”
A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick.
An idle reason lessens the weight of the good ones you gave before.
Patrick Madden's New Book
Quotidiana site founder Patrick Madden has just published a book of his own personal essays, including pieces formerly published in the Best American Spiritual Writing and Best Creative Nonfiction anthologies.
If you enjoy the classical essays on this site, you'll enjoy these contemporary ruminations as well. Soon there'll be a web page here with further information, but for now, you can find out more (and perhaps purchase a copy) at Amazon.com .
"Patrick Madden is an essayist of verve, passion, wit, and dependable moral compass. Quotidiana drew me in powerfully, from page to page and from pleasure to pleasure." —Ian Frazier
2011 Symposium on the Essay
Friend of Quotidiana Kim Dana Kupperman 's Welcome Table Press is hosting a one-day symposium at Fordham University on Saturday, October 15th, 2011.
In Praise of the Essay: Practice & Form will feature talks and discussions by Phillip Lopate, Robin Hemley, Barbara Hurd, and more.
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Essayists
Alphabetical
Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Bacon, Francis (1561-1626)
Barbellion, W. N. P. (1889-1919)
Belloc, Hilaire (1870-1953)
Benson, Arthur (1862-1925)
Bird, Isabella (1831-1904)
Bly, Nellie (1864-1922)
Browne, Thomas (1605-1682)
Burney, Fanny (1752-1840)
Cavendish, Margaret (1623-1673)
Chesterton, G. K. (1874-1936)
Chudleigh, Mary (1656-1710)
Clinton, Elizabeth (1575-1638)
Colton, Charles (1780-1832)
Cooper, Anna Julia (1858-1964)
Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1813-1894)
Cornwallis, William (1579-1614)
Cowley, Abraham (1618-1667)
Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Culpeper, Thomas (1626-1697)
De Quincey, Thomas (1785-1859)
Edgeworth, Maria (1767-1849)
Eliot, T. S. (1888-1965)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882)
Far, Sui Sin (1865-1914)
Felltham, Owen (1602-1668)
Freud, Sigmund (1856-1939)
Fuller, Margaret (1810-1850)
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1860-1935)
Goldsmith, Oliver (1735-1774)
Guiney, Louise Imogen (1861-1920)
Hamilton, Gail (1838-1896)
Harrison, Jane Ellen (1850-1928)
Haywood, Eliza (1693-1756)
Hazlitt, William (1778-1830)
Howell, James (1594-1666)
Howells, William Dean (1837-1920)
Hume, David (1711-1776)
Hunt, Leigh (1784-1859)
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895)
Hyde, Edward (1609-1674)
Jacks, L. P. (1860-1955)
Jacobs, Harriet (1813-1897)
Jerome, Jerome K. (1859-1927)
Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)
Kenko, Yoshida (1283-1350)
Kirkland, Caroline (1801-1864)
Lamb, Charles (1775-1834)
Landor, Walter Savage (1775-1864)
Lee, Vernon (1856-1935)
Marquis, Don (1878-1937)
Martin, Edward Sanford (1856-1939)
Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876)
Meynell, Alice (1847-1922)
Milne, A. A. (1882-1956)
Montaigne, Michel de (1533-1592)
More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Morley, Christopher (1890-1957)
Morris, Elisabeth (1870-1964)
Osler, William (1849-1919)
Plato, Ann (1820-?)
Repplier, Agnes (1855-1950)
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus (4-65)
Smith, Alexander (1830-1867)
Steele, Richard (1672-1729)
Stein, Edith (1891-1942)
Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894)
Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)
Temple, William (1628-1699)
Tomlinson, H. M. (1873-1958)
Twain, Mark (1835-1910)
Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797)
Zitkala-Ša (1876-1938)
Chronological
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus (4-65)
Kenko, Yoshida (1283-1350)
Montaigne, Michel de (1533-1592)
Bacon, Francis (1561-1626)
Clinton, Elizabeth (1575-1638)
Cornwallis, William (1579-1614)
Howell, James (1594-1666)
Felltham, Owen (1602-1668)
Browne, Thomas (1605-1682)
Hyde, Edward (1609-1674)
Cowley, Abraham (1618-1667)
Cavendish, Margaret (1623-1673)
Culpeper, Thomas (1626-1697)
Temple, William (1628-1699)
Chudleigh, Mary (1656-1710)
Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)
Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Steele, Richard (1672-1729)
Haywood, Eliza (1693-1756)
Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)
Hume, David (1711-1776)
Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Goldsmith, Oliver (1735-1774)
More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Burney, Fanny (1752-1840)
Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797)
Edgeworth, Maria (1767-1849)
Lamb, Charles (1775-1834)
Landor, Walter Savage (1775-1864)
Hazlitt, William (1778-1830)
Colton, Charles (1780-1832)
Hunt, Leigh (1784-1859)
De Quincey, Thomas (1785-1859)
Kirkland, Caroline (1801-1864)
Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882)
Fuller, Margaret (1810-1850)
Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1813-1894)
Jacobs, Harriet (1813-1897)
Plato, Ann (1820-?)
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895)
Smith, Alexander (1830-1867)
Bird, Isabella (1831-1904)
Twain, Mark (1835-1910)
Howells, William Dean (1837-1920)
Hamilton, Gail (1838-1896)
Meynell, Alice (1847-1922)
Osler, William (1849-1919)
Harrison, Jane Ellen (1850-1928)
Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894)
Repplier, Agnes (1855-1950)
Freud, Sigmund (1856-1939)
Lee, Vernon (1856-1935)
Martin, Edward Sanford (1856-1939)
Cooper, Anna Julia (1858-1964)
Jerome, Jerome K. (1859-1927)
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1860-1935)
Jacks, L. P. (1860-1955)
Guiney, Louise Imogen (1861-1920)
Benson, Arthur (1862-1925)
Bly, Nellie (1864-1922)
Far, Sui Sin (1865-1914)
Belloc, Hilaire (1870-1953)
Morris, Elisabeth (1870-1964)
Tomlinson, H. M. (1873-1958)
Chesterton, G. K. (1874-1936)
Zitkala-Ša (1876-1938)
Marquis, Don (1878-1937)
Milne, A. A. (1882-1956)
Eliot, T. S. (1888-1965)
Barbellion, W. N. P. (1889-1919)
Morley, Christopher (1890-1957)
Stein, Edith (1891-1942)
Women
Bird, Isabella (1831-1904) Bly, Nellie (1864-1922) Burney, Fanny (1752-1840) Cavendish, Margaret (1623-1673) Chudleigh, Mary (1656-1710) Clinton, Elizabeth (1575-1638) Cooper, Anna Julia (1858-1964) Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1813-1894) Edgeworth, Maria (1767-1849) Far, Sui Sin (1865-1914) Fuller, Margaret (1810-1850) Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1860-1935) Guiney, Louise Imogen (1861-1920) Hamilton, Gail (1838-1896) Harrison, Jane Ellen (1850-1928) Haywood, Eliza (1693-1756) Jacobs, Harriet (1813-1897) Kirkland, Caroline (1801-1864) Lee, Vernon (1856-1935) Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876) Meynell, Alice (1847-1922) More, Hannah (1745-1833) Morris, Elisabeth (1870-1964) Plato, Ann (1820-?) Repplier, Agnes (1855-1950) Stein, Edith (1891-1942) Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797) Zitkala-Ša (1876-1938)
Essays
by Jonathan Swift
A meditation upon a broomstick
A modest proposal
Hints towards an essay on conversation
Thoughts on various subjects
