“Hail, ye small, sweet courtesies of life! for smooth do ye make the road of it.”

— Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, "The Pulse, Paris", 1768

About Laurence Sterne

1713 – 1768

Irish-born English novelist, author of "Tristram Shandy".

“The brave only know how to forgive.”

“As we jogg on, either laugh with me, or at me, or in short do any thing—only keep your temper.”

“For every ten jokes, thou hast got a hundred enemies.”

“The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life.”

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.”