Roger L'Estrange, Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists… (1692)
“ Distractions have much in them of Flea-Bitings; That is to say, they keep us Waking, and Hinder our Repose. The Flea thought it hard to suffer Death for an Importunity: But to a Man that knows how to Value his Time and his Quiet, One Importunity upon the Neck of Another, is the Killing of a Man Alive, and the very Worst of Deaths. ”
Roger L'Estrange, Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists… (1692)
“ It is as Natural for a Man to Kill a Flea, as it is for a Flea to Bite a Man. There's a kind of self-Preservation on Both sides, and without Any Malice on Either Hand. The Flea cannot Live without Nourishment, nor the Man without Rest. ”
Roger L'Estrange, Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists… (1692)
“ So that here’s only a Present Dispatch on the One Hand, to prevent a Lingring Death on the Other (as a Restless Life is in Truth no Better) There are in the World as many Illustrations of This Fable, as there are Instances of Petulant, Pragmatical, and Impertinent People that Break in upon Men of Government and Bus'ness. ”
