Quote#Speech
[To Mr. Johnson] If you were to make little fishes talk, they would…
Quote byOliver Goldsmith · 1728–1774
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: From James Boswell's Life of Johnson (1791), April 27, 1773..
English (original)
[To Mr. Johnson] If you were to make little fishes talk, they would talk like whales.
— Oliver Goldsmith
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Such dainties to them, their health it might hurt; It's like sending them ruffles, when wanting a shirt.
There is no arguing with Johnson: for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it.
A nightcap decked his brows instead of bay, A cap by night — a stocking all the day!
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
You may all go to pot.