I am persuaded that every time a man smiles - but much more so when he laughs - it adds something to this fragment of life.

The publication of Tristram Shandy made Sterne famous in London and on the continent. ISBN 1-4039-3454-1
D. In 1741–42 Sterne wrote political articles supporting the administration of Sir Robert Walpole for a newspaper founded by his uncle but soon withdrew from politics in disgust.

Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. Sterne died in London after years of fighting consumption.