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The best of men cannot suspend their fate:
The good die early, and the bad die late.

— Daniel Defoe Character of the Late Dr. S. Annesley (1715)

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Fate

More quotes by Daniel Defoe

'Tis very strange Men should be so fond of being thought wickeder than they are.

A System of Magick (1726)

Wherever God erects a house of prayer,
The Devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

The True-Born Englishman (1701)

Nature has left this tincture in the blood,
That all men would be tyrants if they could.

The Kentish Petition (1701)

It is never too late to be wise.

Robinson Crusoe (1719)

All evils are to be considered with the good that is in them, and with what worse attends them.

Robinson Crusoe (1719)

All Daniel Defoe quotes →

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One country, one constitution, one destiny.

Daniel Webster

We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

John Lewis

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.

William Jennings Bryan

“Destiny,” said John. “The ghastliest word a man can speak.”

Poul Anderson The Corridors of Time (1965)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Daniel Defoe (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.