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"He shall not die, by God," cried my uncle Toby. The Accusing Spirit which flew up to heaven's chancery with the oath, blushed as he gave it in: and the Recording Angel as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever.

— Laurence Sterne

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Source: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1760-1767), Book VI, Chapter VIII.
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

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'Tis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause — and of obstinacy in a bad one.

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Crowded towns and busy societies may delight the unthinking and the gay, but solitude is the best nurse of wisdom.

A large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life, by him who interests his heart in everything.

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A man should know something of his own country too, before he goes abroad.

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Only the brave know how to forgive...A coward never forgave; it is not in his nature.

Every time a man smiles,—but much more so, when he laughs, that it adds something to this Fragment of life.

Trust that man in nothing who has not a conscience in everything.

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Friendship is the balm and cordial of life, and without it, ’tis a heavy load not worth sustaining.

I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba and cry, 'Tis all barren!

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