Character: Lemuel Gulliver

Such things as divorce or adultery are unheard of there, and a married couple goes their way in life with the same friendly feelings and mutual benevolence that they have for all members of their tribe that meet on their way; they are not aware of jealousy, fits of tenderness, quarrels and annoyance at each other.

Friendship and benevolence are the two main virtues of the Guygnhnms, and they are not limited to individuals, but extend to the entire race. The Huygnhnms think that nature teaches them to equally love everyone like them, and only reason sets the differences between individuals according to the height of their virtue.

Since the noble Guygnhnms are by nature endowed with a general predisposition to all virtues and have not the slightest idea of what evil is in a rational being, the basic rule of their life is to perfect the mind and completely obey its leadership.

The rudiments of debauchery, coquetry, nagging and backbiting are inherent in the entire female sex.

Our conscientious courts never dismiss cases until both sides are ruined in the end.

The existence of our government and laws, obviously, is due to the great imperfection of our reason, and therefore of virtue; for to control a rational being, one mind is enough.

Comparing the many virtues of these beautiful four-legged with human depravity to such an extent opened my eyes and broadened my horizons, that the actions and passions of a person appeared to me in a completely new light. I have cultivated in myself a deep hatred of all lies and pretense.

When a vacancy for a high office opens, due to death or disgrace (which happens often), five or six applicants petition the emperor to allow them to entertain his imperial majesty and the court by dancing on a tightrope; and whoever jumps above all, without falling, gets a vacant position.

This monarch lives mainly on income from his personal estates and very rarely, in the most exceptional cases, applies for a subsidy to his subjects, who, on the other hand, are obliged, at his request, to appear at war in their own arms.

The highest mental gifts cannot substitute for moral virtues. There is nothing so dangerous as to entrust important positions such talented people. Error committed in ignorance a man full of good intentions, can always be fixed. But the activities of a person with vicious tendencies, endowed with ability to hide their vices with impunity to indulge them, is a great danger for the public good.

Lilliputians consider fraud a more serious crime than theft, and therefore only in rare cases, it is not punishable by death. With certain caution, vigilance, and a small dose of common sense, they argue, you can always protect their property from thief. But a clever fraud there is no protection.

Each nation is proud of the antiquity, beauty, and expressiveness of their language, referring with obvious contempt for the language of his neighbor.

The ambition of monarchs has no limits.