--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I often derive a peculiar satisfaction in…" description: "\"I often derive a peculiar satisfaction in conversing with the ancient and modern dead, — who yet live and speak excellently in their works. My neighbor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38a/laurence-sterne-1405_ancient_i-often-derive-a-peculiar-satisfaction-i_2870147.jpg" --- # I often derive a peculiar satisfaction in conversing with… ![“I often derive a peculiar satisfaction in conversing with the ancient and modern dead, — who yet live and speak excellently in their works. My neighbors think me often alone, — and yet at such times I am in company with more than five hundred mutes — each of whom, at my pleasure, communicates his…” quote by Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38a/laurence-sterne-1405_ancient_i-often-derive-a-peculiar-satisfaction-i_2870147.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38a/laurence-sterne-1405_ancient_i-often-derive-a-peculiar-satisfaction-i_2870147.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38a/laurence-sterne-1405_ancient_i-often-derive-a-peculiar-satisfaction-i_2870147.jpg) > “I often derive a peculiar satisfaction in conversing with the ancient and modern dead, — who yet live and speak excellently in their works. My neighbors think me often alone, — and yet at such times I am in company with more than five hundred mutes — each of whom, at my pleasure, communicates his ideas to me by dumb signs — quite as intelligently as any person living can do by uttering of words.” [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author enjoys conversing with dead writers through their works, finding companionship in literature despite physical isolation. **In simple terms:** Reading lets you talk with past authors and feel less alone. Key Takeaway Seek connection through literature when feeling isolated. Themes literature solitude intellectual companionship Mood contemplative introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading groups - creative writing - literary analysis - personal reflection Key Concepts intertextual dialogue historical perspective Questions to Reflect On - Which authors have you felt most connected to? - How does reading shape your sense of community? A Different Perspective Relying on texts may avoid real social interaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Neighbor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbor/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Satisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfaction/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [A writer is one who communicates ideas and emotions people want to communicate but aren't quite sure how, or even if, they should communicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/a-writer-is-one-who-communicates-ideas-and-emotions-people-want-to/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [He that would travel for the entertainment of others, should remember that the great object of remark is human life. Every nation has something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/he-that-would-travel-for-the-entertainment-of-others-should-remember/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [There are some weaknesses that are peculiar and distinctive to generous characters, as freckles are to a fair skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-some-weaknesses-that-are-peculiar-and-distinctive-to/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Now it's of peculiar interest to an Arab country that there is a company and a certain set of bankers who also finance the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/now-it-s-of-peculiar-interest-to-an-arab-country-that-there-is-a/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [A Christian minister is a person who in a peculiar sense is not his own; he is the servant of God, and therefore ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carey/a-christian-minister-is-a-person-who-in-a-peculiar-sense-is-not-his/) [William Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carey/) > [What's his offense? Groping for trout in a peculiar river.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/what-s-his-offense-groping-for-trout-in-a-peculiar-river/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I grew up feeling like a weirdo like many kids do. But I was lucky to find my own home for peculiar children. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/i-grew-up-feeling-like-a-weirdo-like-many-kids-do-but-i-was-lucky-to/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [Great ambition, the desire of real superiority, of leading and directing, seems to be altogether peculiar to man, and speech is the great instrument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/great-ambition-the-desire-of-real-superiority-of-leading-and/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [“tiempo tiene su peculiar manera de moldear a la gente de forma que ellos mismos ya no se reconocen,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/tiempo-tiene-su-peculiar-manera-de-moldear-a-la-gente-de-forma-que/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-combination-of-such-characters-some-as-the-sacral-ones-altogether/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [For a moment he could have sworn he smelled violets, which was very peculiar, since he had no idea what violets smelled like, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/for-a-moment-he-could-have-sworn-he-smelled-violets-which-was-very/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I think that to transfuse emotion - not to transmit thought but to set up in the reader's sense a vibration corresponding to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/i-think-that-to-transfuse-emotion-not-to-transmit-thought-but-to-set/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Vegetables, which are the lowest in the scale of living things, are fed by roots, which, implanted in the native soil, select by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/vegetables-which-are-the-lowest-in-the-scale-of-living-things-are-fed/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## More by Laurence Sterne > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The world is ashamed of being virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-world-is-ashamed-of-being-virtuous/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/digressions-incontestably-are-the-sunshine-they-are-the-life-the-soul/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [A man's body and his mind, with the utmost reverence to both I speak it, are exactly like a jerkin and a jerkin's lining;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/a-man-s-body-and-his-mind-with-the-utmost-reverence-to-both-i-speak/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/when-the-affections-so-kindly-break-loose-joy-is-another-name-for/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Sweet pliability of man's spirit, that can at once surrender itself to illusions, which cheat expectation and sorrow of their weary moments! - long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sweet-pliability-of-man-s-spirit-that-can-at-once-surrender-itself-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Philosophy has a fine saying for everything.-For Death it has an entire set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/philosophy-has-a-fine-saying-for-everything-for-death-it-has-an/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Dear sensibility! Source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! Eternal fountain of our feelings! 'tis here I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/dear-sensibility-source-inexhausted-of-all-that-s-precious-in-our/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best friends in the world may differ sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-friends-in-the-world-may-differ-sometimes/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Beauty has so many charms, one knows not how to speak against it; and when it happens that a graceful figure is the habitation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/beauty-has-so-many-charms-one-knows-not-how-to-speak-against-it-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best hearts are ever the bravest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-hearts-are-ever-the-bravest/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Hail! the small courtesies of life, for smooth do ye make the road of it, like grace and beauty, which beget inclinations to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/hail-the-small-courtesies-of-life-for-smooth-do-ye-make-the-road-of/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [There are a thousand unnoticed openings, continued my father, which let penetrating eye at once into a man's soul; and I maintain it, added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-are-a-thousand-unnoticed-openings-continued-my-father-which-let/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [“Button-holes! there is something lively in the very idea of 'em - and trust me, when I get amongst 'em - you gentry with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/button-holes-there-is-something-lively-in-the-very-idea-of-em-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) [Explore all 244 Laurence Sterne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. 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I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. 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