Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World

I often let my legs drop, and could feel no bottom; but when I was almost gone, and able to struggle no longer, I found myself within my depth

I thought it the most prudent method to lie still, and my design was to continue so till night, when, my left hand being already loose, I could easily free myself

However, in my opinion, it was extremely prudent, as well as generous: for, supposing these people had endeavoured to kill me with their spears and arrows, while I was asleep, I should certainly have awaked with the first sense of smart, which might so far have roused my rage and strength, as to have enabled me to break the strings wherewith I was tied; after which, as they were not able to make resistance, so they could expect no mercy

These people are most excellent mathematicians, and arrived to a great perfection in mechanics, by the countenance and encouragement of the emperor, who is a renowned patron of learning

I confess I was often tempted, while they were passing backwards and forwards on my body, to seize forty or fifty of the first that came in my reach, and dash them against the ground. But the remembrance of what I had felt, which probably might not be the worst they could do, and the promise of honour I made them—for so I interpreted my submissive behaviour—soon drove out these imaginations

But before this, they had daubed my face and both my hands with a sort of ointment, very pleasant to the smell, which, in a few minutes, removed all the smart of their arrows

I had been for some hours extremely pressed by the necessities of nature; which was no wonder, it being almost two days since I had last disburdened myself. I was under great difficulties between urgency and shame

He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court; which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders.

He ordered his cooks and butlers, who were already prepared, to give me victuals and drink, which they pushed forward in a sort of vehicles upon wheels, till I could reach them.

Sometimes they determined to starve me; or at least to shoot me in the face and hands with poisoned arrows, which would soon despatch me; but again they considered, that the stench of so large a carcass might produce a plague in the metropolis, and probably spread through the whole kingdom.

He directed that those who had already beheld me should return home, and not presume to come within fifty yards of my house, without license from the court; whereby the secretaries of state got considerable fees.

They apprehended my breaking loose; that my diet would be very expensive, and might cause a famine.

This diversion is only practised by those persons who are candidates for great employments, and high favour at court.

The emperor holds a stick in his hands, both ends parallel to the horizon, while the candidates advancing, one by one, sometimes leap over the stick, sometimes creep under it, backward and forward, several times, according as the stick is advanced or depressed.

Whoever performs his part with most agility, and holds out the longest in leaping and creeping, is rewarded with the blue-coloured silk; the red is given to the next, and the green to the third, which they all wear girt twice round about the middle; and you see few great persons about this court who are not adorned with one of these girdles.

whose feet press down to the centre, and whose head strikes against the sun

pleasant as the spring, comfortable as the summer, fruitful as autumn, dreadful as winter

the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat them, was upon the larger end

his present majesty’s grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers

Whereupon the emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs

The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us, there have been six rebellions raised on that account

It is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat them, was upon the larger end

the Big-endian exiles have found so much credit in the emperor of Blefuscu’s court, and so much private assistance and encouragement from their party here at home

a bloody war has been carried on between the two empires for six-and-thirty moons, with various success

we labour under two mighty evils: a violent faction at home, and the danger of an invasion, by a most potent enemy, from abroad

The animosities between these two parties run so high, that they will neither eat, nor drink, nor talk with each other

his imperial highness, the heir to the crown, to have some tendency towards the high heels

our histories of six thousand moons make no mention of any other regions than the two great empires of Lilliput and Blefuscu

which is the convenient end, seems, in my humble opinion to be left to every man’s conscience, or at least in the power of the chief magistrate to determine

the books of the Big-endians have been long forbidden, and the whole party rendered incapable by law of holding employments

I thought it would not become me, who was a foreigner, to interfere with parties

I was ready, with the hazard of my life, to defend his person and state against all invaders

Of so little weight are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with a refusal to gratify their passions.

Ingratitude is among them a capital crime, as we read it to have been in some other countries: for they reason thus; that whoever makes ill returns to his benefactor, must needs be a common enemy to the rest of mankind, from whom he has received no obligation, and therefore such a man is not fit to live.

In choosing persons for all employments, they have more regard to good morals than to great abilities; for, since government is necessary to mankind, they believe, that the common size of human understanding is fitted to some station or other; and that Providence never intended to make the management of public affairs a mystery to be comprehended only by a few persons of sublime genius

but they suppose truth, justice, temperance, and the like, to be in every man’s power; the practice of which virtues, assisted by experience and a good intention, would qualify any man for the service of his country

The learned among them confess the absurdity of this doctrine; but the practice still continues, in compliance to the vulgar.

They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man’s goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning

the young ladies are as much ashamed of being cowards and fools as the men, and despise all personal ornaments, beyond decency and cleanliness

the fear you had for your eyes, was the greatest difficulty in bringing over the enemy’s fleet, and it would be sufficient for you to see by the eyes of the ministers, since the greatest princes do no more

the more these praises were enlarged and insisted on, the more inhuman was the punishment, and the sufferer more innocent

treason begins in the heart, before it appears in overt acts, so he accused you as a traitor on that account

Neither had I so soon learned the gratitude of courtiers, to persuade myself, that his majesty’s present severities acquitted me of all past obligations

I owe the preserving of my eyes, and consequently my liberty, to my own great rashness and want of experience

I resolved never more to put any confidence in princes or ministers, where I could possibly avoid it

I was resolved to venture myself on the ocean, rather than be an occasion of difference between two such mighty monarchs

Having been condemned, by nature and fortune, to active and restless life

I found it fully cultivated; but that which first surprised me was the length of the grass, which, in those grounds that seemed to be kept for hay, was about twenty feet high

Undoubtedly philosophers are in the right, when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.

It might have pleased fortune, to have let the Lilliputians find some nation, where the people were as diminutive with respect to them, as they were to me.

And as I have been always told, and found true by experience in my travels, that flying or discovering fear before a fierce animal, is a certain way to make it pursue or attack you, so I resolved, in this dangerous juncture, to show no manner of concern.

I must confess no object ever disgusted me so much as the sight of her monstrous breast, which I cannot tell what to compare with, so as to give the curious reader an idea of its bulk, shape, and colour.

I hope the gentle reader will excuse me for dwelling on these and the like particulars, which, however insignificant they may appear to groveling vulgar minds, yet will certainly help a philosopher to enlarge his thoughts and imagination, and apply them to the benefit of public as well as private life,

I considered myself to be a perfect stranger in the country, and that such a misfortune could never be charged upon me as a reproach, if ever I should return to England, since the king of Great Britain himself, in my condition, must have undergone the same distress.

That the life I had since led was laborious enough to kill an animal of ten times my strength.

They all agreed that I could not be produced according to the regular laws of nature, because I was not framed with a capacity of preserving my life, either by swiftness, or climbing of trees, or digging holes in the earth.

they concluded unanimously, that I was only relplum scalcath, which is interpreted literally lusus naturæ; a determination exactly agreeable to the modern philosophy of Europe, whose professors, disdaining the old evasion of occult causes, whereby the followers of Aristotle endeavoured in vain to disguise their ignorance, have invented this wonderful solution of all difficulties, to the unspeakable advancement of human knowledge.

the queen (who had indeed but a weak stomach) took up, at one mouthful, as much as a dozen English farmers could eat at a meal, which to me was for some time a very nauseous sight.

how contemptible a thing was human grandeur, which could be mimicked by such diminutive insects as I

Neither, indeed, could I forbear smiling at myself, when the queen used to place me upon her hand towards a looking-glass, by which both our persons appeared before me in full view together; and there could be nothing more ridiculous than the comparison

if I had then beheld a company of English lords and ladies in their finery and birth-day clothes, acting their several parts in the most courtly manner of strutting, and bowing, and prating, to say the truth, I should have been strongly tempted to laugh as much at them as the king and his grandees did at me

as to myself, I thought it would not be for my reputation, that such a story should go about

I had been long afraid of this resolution, and therefore concealed from her some little unlucky adventures, that happened in those times when I was left by myself

I conceive that my sense was more acute in proportion to my littleness, and that those illustrious persons were no more disagreeable to their lovers, or to each other, than people of the same quality are with us in England.

This made me reflect, how vain an attempt it is for a man to endeavour to do himself honour among those who are out of all degree of equality or comparison with him.

And yet I have seen the moral of my own behaviour very frequent in England since my return; where a little contemptible varlet, without the least title to birth, person, wit, or common sense, shall presume to look with importance, and put himself upon a foot with the greatest persons of the kingdom.

I cannot forget, that an intimate friend of mine in Lilliput, took the freedom in a warm day, when I had used a good deal of exercise, to complain of a strong smell about me, although I am as little faulty that way, as most of my sex: but I suppose his faculty of smelling was as nice with regard to me, as mine was to that of this people.

ignorance, idleness, and vice, are the proper ingredients for qualifying a legislator

laws are best explained, interpreted, and applied, by those whose interest and abilities lie in perverting, confounding, and eluding them

a man may be allowed to keep poisons in his closet, but not to vend them about for cordials

whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together

the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth

I would hide the frailties and deformities of my political mother, and place her virtues and beauties in the most advantageous light

great allowances should be given to a king, who lives wholly secluded from the rest of the world, and must therefore be altogether unacquainted with the manners and customs that most prevail in other nations

he would rather lose half his kingdom, than be privy to such a secret

He confined the knowledge of governing within very narrow bounds, to common sense and reason, to justice and lenity, to the speedy determination of civil and criminal causes

I think I should rather have died than undergone the disgrace of leaving a posterity to be kept in cages, like tame canary-birds, and perhaps, in time, sold about the kingdom, to persons of quality, for curiosities.

I wanted to be among people, with whom I could converse upon even terms, and walk about the streets and fields without being afraid of being trod to death like a frog or a young puppy.

This I mention as an instance of the great power of habit and prejudice.

I was indeed treated with much kindness: I was the favourite of a great king and queen, and the delight of the whole court; but it was upon such a foot as ill became the dignity of humankind.

I could never forget those domestic pledges I had left behind me.

the thirst I had of seeing the world, notwithstanding my past misfortunes, continuing as violent as ever

I was sorry to find more mercy in a heathen, than in a brother christian

the minds of these people are so taken up with intense speculations, that they neither can speak, nor attend to the discourses of others, without being roused by some external taction upon the organs of speech and hearing

the whole compass of their thoughts and mind being shut up within the two forementioned sciences

inclining us to be most curious and conceited in matters where we have least concern, and for which we are least adapted by study or nature

Their apprehensions arise from several changes they dread in the celestial bodies

They are so perpetually alarmed with the apprehensions of these, and the like impending dangers, that they can neither sleep quietly in their beds, nor have any relish for the common pleasures and amusements of life.

the caprices of womankind are not limited by any climate or nation, and that they are much more uniform, than can be easily imagined.

His majesty discovered not the least curiosity to inquire into the laws, government, history, religion, or manners of the countries where I had been; but confined his questions to the state of mathematics

They were indeed excellent in two sciences for which I have great esteem, and wherein I am not unversed; but, at the same time, so abstracted and involved in speculation, that I never met with such disagreeable companions.

He was universally reckoned the most ignorant and stupid person among them. He had performed many eminent services for the crown, had great natural and acquired parts, adorned with integrity and honour

If any town should engage in rebellion or mutiny, fall into violent factions, or refuse to pay the usual tribute, the king has two methods of reducing them to obedience.

However, this is an extremity to which the prince is seldom driven, neither indeed is he willing to put it in execution; nor dare his ministers advise him to an action, which, as it would render them odious to the people, so it would be a great damage to their own estates

The people were unanimous, and had laid in store of provisions, and a great river runs through the middle of the town.

This incident broke entirely the king’s measures, and (to dwell no longer on other circumstances) he was forced to give the town their own conditions.

The only inconvenience is, that none of these projects are yet brought to perfection; and in the mean time, the whole country lies miserably waste, the houses in ruins, and the people without food or clothes.

By all which, instead of being discouraged, they are fifty times more violently bent upon prosecuting their schemes, driven equally on by hope and despair:

that as for himself, being not of an enterprising spirit, he was content to go on in the old forms, to live in the houses his ancestors had built, and act as they did, in every part of life, without innovation:

For it is plain, that every word we speak is, in some degree, a diminution of our lungs by corrosion, and, consequently, contributes to the shortening of our lives.

However, many of the most learned and wise adhere to the new scheme of expressing themselves by things; which has only this inconvenience attending it, that if a man’s business be very great, and of various kinds, he must be obliged, in proportion, to carry a greater bundle of things upon his back,

The proposition, and demonstration, were fairly written on a thin wafer, with ink composed of a cephalic tincture. This, the student was to swallow upon a fasting stomach, and for three days following, eat nothing but bread and water.

that there is nothing so extravagant and irrational, which some philosophers have not maintained for truth.

that new systems of nature were but new fashions, which would vary in every age; and even those, who pretend to demonstrate them from mathematical principles, would flourish but a short period of time, and be out of vogue when that was determined.

that these commentators always kept in the most distant quarters from their principals, in the lower world, through a consciousness of shame and guilt, because they had so horribly misrepresented the meaning of those authors to posterity.

that the greatest actions of his own life were not equal, by many degrees, to the glory of taking it away.

how the world had been misled by prostitute writers, to ascribe the greatest exploits in war, to cowards; the wisest counsel, to fools; sincerity, to flatterers; Roman virtue, to betrayers of their country; piety, to atheists; chastity, to sodomites; truth, to informers

how a whore can govern the back-stairs, the back-stairs a council, and the council a senate

that the royal throne could not be supported without corruption, because that positive, confident, restiff temper, which virtue infused into a man, was a perpetual clog to public business

how all these pure native virtues were prostituted for a piece of money by their grand-children

Happy nation, where every child hath at least a chance for being immortal! Happy people, who enjoy so many living examples of ancient virtue, and have masters ready to instruct them in the wisdom of all former ages!

just as a man diverts himself with the annual succession of pinks and tulips in his garden, without regretting the loss of those which withered the preceding year

the oldest had still hopes of living one day longer, and looked on death as the greatest evil, from which nature always prompted him to retreat.

That the question therefore was not, whether a man would choose to be always in the prime of youth, attended with prosperity and health; but how he would pass a perpetual life under all the usual disadvantages which old age brings along with it.

Envy and impotent desires are their prevailing passions.

They have no remembrance of anything but what they learned and observed in their youth and middle-age, and even that is very imperfect; and for the truth or particulars of any fact, it is safer to depend on common tradition, than upon their best recollections.

Otherwise, as avarice is the necessary consequence of old age, those immortals would in time become proprietors of the whole nation, and engross the civil power, which, for want of abilities to manage, must end in the ruin of the public.

The language of this country being always upon the flux, the struldbrugs of one age do not understand those of another; neither are they able, after two hundred years, to hold any conversation (farther than by a few general words) with their neighbours the mortals; and thus they lie under the disadvantage of living like foreigners in their own country.

I never had one hour’s sickness while I stayed in this island.

I am confident that the frequent use of salt among us is an effect of luxury, and was first introduced only as a provocative to drink,

The behaviour of the young colt and foal appeared very modest, and that of the master and mistress extremely cheerful and complaisant to their guest.

They were under great perplexity about my shoes and stockings, which they felt very often, neighing to each other, and using various gestures, not unlike those of a philosopher, when he would attempt to solve some new and difficult phenomenon.

the use of speech was to make us understand one another, and to receive information of facts; now, if any one said the thing which was not, these ends were defeated

reason in time will always prevail against brutal strength

Power, government, war, law, punishment, and a thousand other things, had no terms wherein that language could express them

He was sure no Houyhnhnm alive could make such a vessel, nor would trust Yahoos to manage it

Sometimes the ambition of princes, who never think they have land or people enough to govern

Difference in opinions has cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh

Neither are any wars so furious and bloody, or of so long a continuance, as those occasioned by difference in opinion, especially if it be in things indifferent

Sometimes one prince quarrels with another for fear the other should quarrel with him

It is a very justifiable cause of a war, to invade a country after the people have been wasted by famine, destroyed by pestilence, or embroiled by factions among themselves

Alliance by blood, or marriage, is a frequent cause of war between princes; and the nearer the kindred is, the greater their disposition to quarrel

poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are proud; and pride and hunger will ever be at variance

the trade of a soldier is held the most honourable of all others; because a soldier is a Yahoo hired to kill, in cold blood, as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can

there was a society of men among us, bred up from their youth in the art of proving, by words multiplied for the purpose, that white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid

It is a maxim among these lawyers that whatever has been done before, may legally be done again

they studiously avoid entering into the merits of the cause; but are loud, violent, and tedious, in dwelling upon all circumstances which are not to the purpose

the rich man enjoyed the fruit of the poor man’s labour, and the latter were a thousand to one in proportion to the former

we sent away the greatest part of our necessary things to other countries, whence, in return, we brought the materials of diseases, folly, and vice, to spend among ourselves

Their fundamental is, that all diseases arise from repletion; whence they conclude, that a great evacuation of the body is necessary

One great excellency in this tribe, is their skill at prognostics, wherein they seldom fail; their predictions in real diseases, when they rise to any degree of malignity, generally portending death, which is always in their power, when recovery is not

those he speaks worst of behind their backs are in the surest way of preferment

The palace of a chief minister is a seminary to breed up others in his own trade

He is usually governed by a decayed wench, or favourite footman, who are the tunnels through which all graces are conveyed, and may properly be called, in the last resort, the governors of the kingdom

that my birth was of the lower sort, having been born of plain honest parents, who were just able to give me a tolerable education

that our young noblemen are bred from their childhood in idleness and luxury

that, as soon as years will permit, they consume their vigour, and contract odious diseases among lewd females

That the productions of such marriages are generally scrofulous, rickety, or deformed children

a weak diseased body, a meagre countenance, and sallow complexion, are the true marks of noble blood

Without the consent of this illustrious body, no law can be enacted, repealed, or altered

the many virtues of those excellent quadrupeds, placed in opposite view to human corruptions, had so far opened my eyes and enlarged my understanding

I began to view the actions and passions of man in a very different light, and to think the honour of my own kind not worth managing

I had likewise learned, from his example, an utter detestation of all falsehood or disguise; and truth appeared so amiable to me, that I determined upon sacrificing every thing to it

that we disarmed ourselves of the few abilities she had bestowed; had been very successful in multiplying our original wants

that, as to myself, it was manifest I had neither the strength nor agility of a common Yahoo

That our institutions of government and law were plainly owing to our gross defects in reason, and by consequence in virtue

the Yahoos were known to hate one another, more than they did any different species of animals

the reason usually assigned was, the odiousness of their own shapes, which all could see in the rest, but not in themselves

He had therefore begun to think it not unwise in us to cover our bodies, and by that invention conceal many of our deformities from each other

those kept at home were tied at a distance from each other

for want of enemies, engage in what I call a civil war among themselves

That in some fields of his country there are certain shining stones of several colours, whereof the Yahoos are violently fond

they will dig with their claws for whole days to get them out; then carry them away, and hide them by heaps in their kennels

but still looking round with great caution, for fear their comrades should find out their treasure

which, when his Yahoo had found, he presently recovered his spirits and good humour

a third would take the advantage, and carry it away from them both

there was nothing that rendered the Yahoos more odious, than their undistinguishing appetite to devour every thing that came in their way

they were fonder of what they could get by rapine or stealth, at a greater distance, than much better food provided for them at home

It would make them sometimes hug, and sometimes tear one another

the cure prescribed is a mixture of their own dung and urine, forcibly put down the Yahoo’s throat

whose employment was to lick his master’s feet and posteriors, and drive the female Yahoos to his kennel

This favourite is hated by the whole herd, and therefore, to protect himself, keeps always near the person of his leader

that a female Yahoo would often stand behind a bank or a bush, to gaze on the young males passing by, and then appear, and hide

Perhaps my master might refine a little in these speculations, which he had drawn from what he observed himself, or had been told him by others

I could not reflect without some amazement, and much sorrow, that the rudiments of lewdness, coquetry, censure, and scandal, should have place by instinct in womankind

nature, it seems, has not been so expert a school-mistress; and these politer pleasures are entirely the productions of art and reason on our side of the globe

the hatred I bore these brutes would never suffer me to be corrupted by them

They are prodigiously nimble from their infancy

They are strong and hardy, but of a cowardly spirit, and, by consequence, insolent, abject, and cruel

It is observed, that the red haired of both sexes are more libidinous and mischievous than the rest

Nature has taught them to dig deep holes with their nails on the side of a rising ground, wherein they lie by themselves

They swim from their infancy like frogs, and are able to continue long under water, where they often take fish

I was never in my life so terribly frightened

I have reason to believe they had some imagination that I was of their own species

as a tame jackdaw with cap and stockings is always persecuted by the wild ones, when he happens to be got among them

Yet I am of opinion this defect arises chiefly from a perverse, restive disposition; for they are cunning, malicious, treacherous, and revengeful

They are strong and hardy, but of a cowardly spirit, and, by consequence, insolent, abject, and cruel

Neither is reason among them a point problematical, as with us, where men can argue with plausibility on both sides of the question, but strikes you with immediate conviction; as it must needs do, where it is not mingled, obscured, or discoloured, by passion and interest.

So that controversies, wranglings, disputes, and positiveness, in false or dubious propositions, are evils unknown among the Houyhnhnms.

Friendship and benevolence are the two principal virtues among the Houyhnhnms; and these not confined to particular objects, but universal to the whole race;

They preserve decency and civility in the highest degrees, but are altogether ignorant of ceremony.

They will have it that nature teaches them to love the whole species, and it is reason only that makes a distinction of persons, where there is a superior degree of virtue.

the violation of marriage, or any other unchastity, was never heard of; and the married pair pass their lives with the same friendship and mutual benevolence, that they bear to all others of the same species who come in their way, without jealousy, fondness, quarrelling, or discontent.

Temperance, industry, exercise, and cleanliness, are the lessons equally enjoined to the young ones of both sexes:

I had no occasion of bribing, flattering, or pimping, to procure the favour of any great man, or of his minion; I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression:

I had the favour of being admitted to several Houyhnhnms, who came to visit or dine with my master; where his honour graciously suffered me to wait in the room, and listen to their discourse.

Their subjects are generally on friendship and benevolence, on order and economy; sometimes upon the visible operations of nature, or ancient traditions; upon the bounds and limits of virtue; upon the unerring rules of reason, or upon some determinations to be taken at the next great assembly:

They have a notion, that when people are met together, a short silence does much improve conversation: this I found to be true; for during those little intermissions of talk, new ideas would arise in their minds, which very much enlivened the discourse.

I admired the strength, comeliness, and speed of the inhabitants; and such a constellation of virtues, in such amiable persons, produced in me the highest veneration.

I considered them, as they really were, Yahoos in shape and disposition, perhaps a little more civilized, and qualified with the gift of speech; but making no other use of reason, than to improve and multiply those vices whereof their brethren in this country had only the share that nature allotted them.

I turned away my face in horror and detestation of myself, and could better endure the sight of a common Yahoo than of my own person.

because I had some rudiments of reason, added to the natural pravity of those animals, it was to be feared I might be able to seduce them into the woody and mountainous parts of the country, and bring them in troops by night to destroy the Houyhnhnms’ cattle, as being naturally of the ravenous kind, and averse from labour.

I thought it might consist with reason to have been less rigorous; that I could not swim a league, and probably the nearest land to theirs might be distant above a hundred: that many materials, necessary for making a small vessel to carry me off, were wholly wanting in this country;

that the certain prospect of an unnatural death was the least of my evils; for, supposing I should escape with life by some strange adventure, how could I think with temper of passing my days among Yahoos, and relapsing into my old corruptions, for want of examples to lead and keep me within the paths of virtue?

My design was, if possible, to discover some small island uninhabited, yet sufficient, by my labour, to furnish me with the necessaries of life, which I would have thought a greater happiness, than to be first minister in the politest court of Europe; so horrible was the idea I conceived of returning to live in the society, and under the government of Yahoos.

I had quite forgot the faculty of lying, so peculiar to Yahoos, in all countries where they preside, and, consequently, their disposition of suspecting truth in others of their own species.

I would suffer the greatest hardships, rather than return to live among Yahoos.

my principal design was to inform, and not to amuse thee.

a traveller’s chief aim should be to make men wiser and better, and to improve their minds by the bad, as well as good, example of what they deliver concerning foreign places.

I would strictly adhere to truth; neither indeed can I be ever under the least temptation to vary from it, while I retain in my mind the lectures and example of my noble master and the other illustrious Houyhnhnms of whom I had so long the honour to be an humble hearer.

I write for the noblest end, to inform and instruct mankind; over whom I may, without breach of modesty, pretend to some superiority, from the advantages I received by conversing so long among the most accomplished Houyhnhnms.

I shall say nothing of those remote nations where Yahoos preside; among which the least corrupted are the Brobdingnagians; whose wise maxims in morality and government it would be our happiness to observe.

I write without any view to profit or praise.

Their prudence, unanimity, unacquaintedness with fear, and their love of their country, would amply supply all defects in the military art.

But, instead of proposals for conquering that magnanimous nation, I rather wish they were in a capacity, or disposition, to send a sufficient number of their inhabitants for civilizing Europe, by teaching us the first principles of honour, justice, truth, temperance, public spirit, fortitude, chastity, friendship, benevolence, and fidelity.

But the Houyhnhnms, who live under the government of reason, are no more proud of the good qualities they possess, than I should be for not wanting a leg or an arm; which no man in his wits would boast of, although he must be miserable without them.

I dwell the longer upon this subject from the desire I have to make the society of an English Yahoo by any means not insupportable; and therefore I here entreat those who have any tincture of this absurd vice, that they will not presume to come in my sight.

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