A Modest Proposal The Proposer (Narrator) Quotes

I desire those politicians who dislike my overture, and perhaps be so bold to attempt an answer, that they will first ask the parents of these mortals. (34)

Swift loved to be one step ahead at all times. He wrote Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, a poem anticipating public reaction to his death, in 1739.

For we [...] neither build houses (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land. (7)

Although the narrator alludes to having a privileged background in the first paragraph, his use of the word "we" firmly places him as a poor Irish tenant.

That the remaining hundred thousand may at a year old be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom. (11)

Being able to buy a child is one more way that the wealthy consolidate power.