United Kingdom
Daniel Defoe
said
Tis very strange Men should be so fond of being thought wickeder than they are.
— A System of Magick (1726).
Daniel Defoe
English trader, writer, and journalist (1660–1731)
- Fame75.7
- Momentum0.0
- Journalists rank#24
Source-basedFalling
- Fame75.7
- Momentum0.0
- Journalists rank#24
- Wikipedia35.1K
Lived 1660–1731, aged 71United Kingdom
Summary
Updated 2026-06-21
He invented the castaway everyone knows—a shipwrecked sailor on an island who became the template for survival stories still being written three centuries later.
Biography
About
Defoe moved through English life as merchant, journalist, political pamphleteer, and occasional spy before turning to fiction around 1719. Robinson Crusoe appeared that year and tore through four editions before December, launching a genre so durable it earned its own name: the Robinsonade. He followed with Moll Flanders in 1722 and Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress in 1724, helping fix the novel as a serious form in Britain alongside writers like Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. His political tracts landed him in prison and kept him tangled with authorities, but intellectuals and leaders sought…
Voice
In their own words
Sourced, dated quotes from Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
said
The best of men cannot suspend their fate: The good die early, and the bad die late.
— Character of the Late Dr. S. Annesley (1715).
Daniel Defoe
said
All men would be tyrants if they could.
— Jure divino: a satyre, Introduction, l. 2 (1706).
Daniel Defoe
said
Hail, hieroglyphic State machine, Contrived to punish fancy in; Men that are men in thee can feel no pain, And all thy insignificance disdain!
— Hymn to the Pillory (1703).
Daniel Defoe
said
Next, bring some lawyers to thy bar, By innuendo they might all stand there; There let them expiate that guilt, And pay for all that blood their tongues have spilt.
— Hymn to the Pillory (1703).
Gallery
Photos
5 images · refresh overdue
Where to find them
Platforms
By the numbers
Score breakdown
The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Falling75.7
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical25.3
Now attention5.9
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Receipts
Sources
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
Discover
You might know
Similar profiles worth watching
.jpg?width=1200)