No man is much regarded by the rest of the world. He that considers how little he dwells upon the condition of others, will learn how little the attention of others is attracted by himself. While we see multitudes passing before us, of whom perhaps not one appears to deserve our notice or excites our sympathy, we should remember, that we likewise are lost in the same throng, that the eye which happens to glance upon us is turned in a moment on him that follows us, and that the utmost which we can reasonably hope or fear is to fill a vacant hour with prattle, and be forgotten.
Samuel Johnson
Related We should not blame people by the mistakes of others. DANIEL MELGAçO Each of us views life through a different lens. What we think is colored by the baggage we carry, an... LAURIE BUCHANAN, PHD The Biggest Threat to our Democracy, Freedoms and Future is Leadership that fosters and Appeases the... MICHAEL HARRIS I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES The man who agrees with us that some question, little regarded by others, is of great importance can... C.S. LEWIS Food Allergies Are Not Due to Food, Rather Are Due to the Constant Contamination of That Food That Y... THEHEALTHFOODGURU Empathy is the new measurement of everything. It doesn't matter what religion you have, what God you... C. JOYBELL C. Everyone is the Umbrella Man and he is everyone. Every cough, sneeze, smile and wave means both ever... CRAIG CLEVENGER The two men had a conversation. Brief, cryptic, to the point. As though they had exchanged numbers a... ARUNDHATI ROY We live aware of God moment by moment. He is not part of our lives; He is our life. CRAIG GROESCHEL Orion is above the horizon now, and near it Jupiter, brighter than it will ever be ... But i expect ... THOMAS HARRIS If we all look at life we think how nice, then we look at death and everybody goes oh you can say th... GARY F EVANS... Being present is being connected to All Things. S. KELLEY HARRELL, M. DIV. If we're honest with ourselves, most of us know the one thing we lack. CRAIG GROESCHEL Perhaps our supercilious disgust with existence is a cover for a secret disgust with ourselves; we h... WILL DURANT Some misapprehension, I say, some obliquity, or some slavish adherence to old prejudices, may thus c... GEORGE MACDONALD Convinced that we're living the whole time that we're dying. We decide to go out walking the wh... TEGAN QUIN While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see ... DOROTHEA LANGE The world that we must seek is a world in which the creative spirit is alive, in which life is an ad... BERTRAND RUSSELL Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877 If, when God sends judgmen... JOHN TILLOTSON Continuing a series on God and the human condition: The situation in which we find ourselves in th... SAMUEL M. SHOEMAKER Feast of Catherine of Siena, Mystic, Teacher, 1380 He has loved us without being loved... We are b... CATHERINE OF SIENA We are delighted when a Minister awards us a decoration, even when we have no claim to be thus honou... MARCEL PROUST When we attribute foreknowledge to God, we mean that all things always were, and perpetually remain,... JOHN CALVIN If we do not rise to the challenge of our unique capacity to shape our lives, to seek the kinds of g... NENA O'NEIL We all have thorns in our flesh. All of us. Love is when we stay and help someone pluck out their th... C. JOYBELL C. Considering how much we are all given to discuss the characters of others, and discuss them often no... ANTHONY TROLLOPE Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or u... ALEXANDER HAMILTON The battle is not physical, it is spiritual and your mind is the battleground. Keep your mind pure a... JEANETTE CORON We cannot count on God to arrange what happens in our lives in ways that will make us feel good.We c... LARRY CRABB Most of us think we're too busy or too important to rest for a day. CRAIG GROESCHEL 35. God is entitled to a portion of our income—not because He needs it but because we need to give... JAMES C. DOBSON Feast of Lucy, Martyr at Syracuse, 304 Commemoration of Samuel Johnson, Writer, Moralist, 1784 It... SAMUEL JOHNSON You have to take risks, he said. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the... PAULO COELHO Where there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see ... DORTHEA LANGE Faith is the virtue by which, clinging-to the faithfulness of God, we lean upon him, so that we may ... WILLIAM AMES So, tomorrow, I'm leaving. And I'm not going to let that happen again with anyone else. I'm going to... STEPHEN CHBOSKY It does not make a very great difference what side of Christ's work attracts us and appeals to us mo... JAMES HASTINGS RASHDALL The solution is to gradually become free of societal rewards and learn how to substitute for them re... MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI I feel that there is much to be said for the Celtic belief that the souls of those whom we have lost... MARCEL PROUST Where there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see ... DORTHEA LANGE Thus it often is with us, we take a course, and we keep to it, as if we were infallible, and we allo... G.A. HENTY A child's reading is guided by pleasure, but his pleasure is undifferentiated; he cannot distinguish... W.H. AUDEN The more we fear crosses, the more reason we have to think that we stand in need of them: let us not... FRANÇOIS FÉNÉLON Miracles seem to rest, not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us ... WILLA CATHER Strife -- in philosophy, religion, and politics -- has certainly gained so much ground that it is im... JAN AMOS COMENIUS Palm Sunday In the person of Christ, the formidable law of God, which by itself appalls us by its... E. E. JENKINS The wisest is he that knows only that he knows nothing. God only knows. We mortals are only troubled... WILLIAM COWPER BRANN That's why we seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it. EMINEM The decisive question for man is: Is he related to something infinite or not? That is the telling qu... C.G. JUNG No matter how an individual views Satan, whether they believe that he is a real character or that he... NWAOCHA OGECHUKWU I think that many people will intentionally overlook all of the lifeless facts about their relations... C. JOYBELL C. Be kind. We never know what people are going through. Give grace and mercy because one day your circ... GERMANY KENT The more we give, the more we reap the benefits of feeling good in helping others. We are all capabl... ANGIE KARAN We mourn the blossoms of May because they are to wither; but we know that May is one day to have its... HENRY JOHN NEWMAN What marriage offers - and what fidelity is meant to protect - is the possibility of moments when wh... WENDELL BERRY In making our decisions, we must use the brains that God has given us. But we must also use our hear... ALEXANDER MACLAREN In making our decisions, we must use the brains that God has given us. But we must also use our hear... ALEXANDER MACLAREN Love is a growing, or full constant light, And his first minute, after noon, is night. JOHN DONNE We focus on other people’s faults. There is a saying that the world is divided into people who thi... TARA BRACH The unfortunate thing is that, sometimes, we slip, but, fortunately, consciously or unconsciously, w... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH It is hard enough, even with the best will in the world, to be just. It is hard, under the pressure ... C. S. LEWIS We do not perceive what is "out ther," rather we perceive what is "in here." Our senses can only inf... STANLEY COREN We do not perceive what is "out there," rather we perceive what is "in here." Our senses can only in... STANLEY COREN For us of course the shared activity and therefore the companionship on which Friendship supervenes ... C.S. LEWIS It is a painful thing to say to oneself: by choosing one road I am turning my back on a thousand oth... ANTONIN SERTILLANGES Let your little inspire someone greatly and greatly be the reasons for the smiles of someone in litt... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Let your little inspires someone greatly and greatly be the reasons for the smiles of someone in lit... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH If you love someone you must set them free like the wind and give them the respect they deserve.If y... GARY F EVANS... Religion is the most important of all things: the great point of discrimination that divides the man... WILLIAM GODWIN But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, / Not by works of right... BIBLE We, according to the Scriptures, plainly believe that Christ hath, by his righteousness, merited for... JOHN OWEN Mother! what a world of affection is comprised in that single word; how little do we in the giddy ro... FANNY KELLY Such is our dependence upon God that we are obliged not only to do everything for His sake, but also... FRANÇOIS FÉNELON Feast of Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977 We shall benefit very much from the Sac... JOHN CALVIN There are moments of heartache and heartbreak, that we wonder how we did not drop dead in our pain. ... MISHI MCCOY When we see the relatedness of ourselves to the universe, that we do not live as isolated entities, ... SHARON SALZBERG But most of us are apt to settle within ourselves that the man who blocks our way is odious, and not... GEORGE ELIOT But most of us are apt to settle within ourselves that the man who blocks our way is odious, and no... GEORGE ELIOT As we watch the process in which the soul becomes thought or speech, we notice that many a time we e... ZALMAN SCHACHTER-SHALOMI ..when we live behind a wall, our inner darkness cannot be penetrated by the light that is in the wo... PARKER J. PALMER Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious of our faults that we ar... FRANÇOIS FÉNÉLON A couple of customers interrupted [...] who wanted to know if we had some YA book about ants and ali... SHAUN DAVID HUTCHINSON The miracles of the church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power comi... WILLA CATHER The miracles of the church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power comi... WILLA SIBERT CATHER It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When... THOMAS MERTON His life seemed like a deck of cards, and in the midst of all those two’s and three’s someone ha... TEKOA MANNING Death makes us forget everything we love and loved ones at the most fearful moment of doubt on loosi... NISHI DE SILVA The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't re... FRANCIS CHAN Most of us are not raised to actively encounter our destiny. We may not know that we have one. As ch... JULIA CAMERON Feast of Lawrence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 258 Unless we look upon ourselves as called to unity, ... F. D. MAURICE I, for my share, cannot understand," continued she, "how men have made themselves believe that God s... JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE How many of us have conflicts with someone else- and how many of us pray for that person? We have in... JOHN WOODEN There is an outpouring of international sympathy and aid when any area of the world is struck by an ... NEL NODDINGS I believe that God will help us to forget things, the memory of which would do us harm, or rather th... W.E. (WILLIAM EDWIN) SANGSTER Here is one fact 1 minute to finish the class, 1 day to die, one day behind that fact, one day in th... DEYTH BANGER If we can't make any mistakes in front of anyone, how can anyone make any mistakes in front of us? I... AKIROQ BROST He had no cause for self-reproach on the score of neglect, or want of thought, for he had been devot... CHARLES DICKENS How is it that we remember the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not remember how often w... FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD Being good or being evil is not something that is inherent in our nature over which we have no contr... LAURENCE OVERMIRE
More Samuel Johnson
He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own... SAMUEL JOHNSON No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship i... SAMUEL JOHNSON Love is only one of many passions. SAMUEL JOHNSON My dear friend, clear your mind of cant. SAMUEL JOHNSON The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down. SAMUEL JOHNSON The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. SAMUEL JOHNSON No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring. SAMUEL JOHNSON Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. SAMUEL JOHNSON Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed. SAMUEL JOHNSON Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wo... SAMUEL JOHNSON It is very natural for young men to be vehement, acrimonious and severe. For as they seldom comprehe... SAMUEL JOHNSON Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the fals... SAMUEL JOHNSON He who praises every body, praises nobody. SAMUEL JOHNSON The mind is never satisfied with the objects immediately before it, but is always breaking away from... SAMUEL JOHNSON A gentleman who had been very unhappy in marriage, married immediately after his wife died: Johnson ... SAMUEL JOHNSON He that will enjoy the brightness of sunshine, must quit the coolness of the shade. SAMUEL JOHNSON Gloomy calm of idle vacancy. SAMUEL JOHNSON Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance. SAMUEL JOHNSON When any calamity has been suffered the first thing to be remembered is, how much has been escaped. SAMUEL JOHNSON No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. SAMUEL JOHNSON Do not discourage your children from hoarding, if they have a taste to it; whoever lays up his penny... SAMUEL JOHNSON Whatever you have spend less. SAMUEL JOHNSON There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money. SAMUEL JOHNSON What is twice read is commonly better remembered that what is
transcribed. SAMUEL JOHNSON A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he
reads as a task will do him little g... SAMUEL JOHNSON Books have always a secret influence on the understanding; we
cannot at pleasure obliterate ideas: ... SAMUEL JOHNSON The habit of looking on the bright side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year. SAMUEL JOHNSON Politics are now nothing more than means of rising in the world. With this sole view do men engage i... SAMUEL JOHNSON Wickedness is always easier than virtue, for it takes a short cut to everything. SAMUEL JOHNSON By taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing that she made him so... SAMUEL JOHNSON It is not from reason and prudence that people marry, but from inclination. SAMUEL JOHNSON Marriage is the best state for man in general, and every man is a worst man in proportion to the lev... SAMUEL JOHNSON A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talk... SAMUEL JOHNSON Books that you carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are most useful after all. SAMUEL JOHNSON A man ought to read just as his inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him littl... SAMUEL JOHNSON He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and... SAMUEL JOHNSON The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illust... SAMUEL JOHNSON We are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the
potentiality of growing rich beyond t... SAMUEL JOHNSON This merriment of parsons is mighty offensive. SAMUEL JOHNSON He that embarks on the voyage of life will always wish to advance rather by the impulse of the wind ... SAMUEL JOHNSON Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head that I do not love you; you may settle yourself in... SAMUEL JOHNSON The endearing elegance of female friendship. SAMUEL JOHNSON To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to thr... SAMUEL JOHNSON The most fatal disease of friendship is gradual decay, or dislike hourly increased by causes too sle... SAMUEL JOHNSON Friendship, 'the wine of life,' said Boswell, should, like a well-stocked cellar, be thus continuall... SAMUEL JOHNSON To be idle and to be poor have always been reproaches, and therefore every man endeavors with his ut... SAMUEL JOHNSON It is wonderful when a calculation is made, how little the mind is actually employed in the discharg... SAMUEL JOHNSON The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it. SAMUEL JOHNSON I will be conquered; I will not capitulate. SAMUEL JOHNSON The law is the last result of human wisdom acting upon human experience for the benefit of the publi... SAMUEL JOHNSON "He was a very good hater." SAMUEL JOHNSON I like a good hater. SAMUEL JOHNSON We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it posse... SAMUEL JOHNSON Read your own compositions, and when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike... SAMUEL JOHNSON Composition is, for the most part, an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the... SAMUEL JOHNSON I know not, Madam, that you have a right, upon moral principles, to make your readers suffer so much... SAMUEL JOHNSON In all pointed sentences, some degree of accuracy must be sacrificed to conciseness. SAMUEL JOHNSON The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over ha... SAMUEL JOHNSON Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious... SAMUEL JOHNSON If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left... SAMUEL JOHNSON Language is the only instrument of science, and words are but the
signs of ideas. SAMUEL JOHNSON Language is only the instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas. SAMUEL JOHNSON Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purc... SAMUEL JOHNSON My congratulations to you, sir. Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good... SAMUEL JOHNSON Pride is seldom delicate; it will please itself with very mean advantages. SAMUEL JOHNSON Prejudice not being funded on reason cannot be removed by argument. SAMUEL JOHNSON The applause of a single human being is of great consequence. SAMUEL JOHNSON He who praises everybody, praises nobody. SAMUEL JOHNSON The real satisfaction which praise can afford, is when what is repeated aloud agrees with the whispe... SAMUEL JOHNSON A continual feast of commendation is only to be obtained by merit or by wealth: many are therefore o... SAMUEL JOHNSON Hunger is never delicate; they who are seldom gorged to the full with praise may be safely fed with ... SAMUEL JOHNSON I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be sile... SAMUEL JOHNSON Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea. SAMUEL JOHNSON No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship i... SAMUEL JOHNSON There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that w... SAMUEL JOHNSON Men know that women are an over-match for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or most ignora... SAMUEL JOHNSON The true art of memory is the art of attention. SAMUEL JOHNSON What is read twice is usually remembered more than what is once written. SAMUEL JOHNSON The Irish are a fair people: They never speak well of one another. SAMUEL JOHNSON The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high road that leads him to England. SAMUEL JOHNSON Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young. SAMUEL JOHNSON Difficult do you call it, Sir? I wish it were impossible. SAMUEL JOHNSON It is the only sensual pleasure without vice. SAMUEL JOHNSON That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one. SAMUEL JOHNSON There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful. SAMUEL JOHNSON The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion. SAMUEL JOHNSON Ah! Sir, a boy's being flogged is not so severe as a man's having the hiss of the world against him. SAMUEL JOHNSON It is the great privilege of poverty to be happy and yet unenvied, to be healthy with physic, secure... SAMUEL JOHNSON Nature makes us poor only when we want necessaries, but custom gives the name of poverty to the want... SAMUEL JOHNSON This mournful truth is everywhere confessed, slow rises worth by poverty depressed. SAMUEL JOHNSON Poverty is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the task of many people to ... SAMUEL JOHNSON Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; ... SAMUEL JOHNSON If pleasure was not followed by pain, who would forbear it? SAMUEL JOHNSON No man is a hypocrite in his pleasures. SAMUEL JOHNSON Many things difficult in design prove easy in performance. SAMUEL JOHNSON If he really thinks there is no distinction between vice and virtue, when he leaves our houses let u... SAMUEL JOHNSON The usual fortune of complaint is to excite contempt more than pity. SAMUEL JOHNSON Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagre... SAMUEL JOHNSON If I have said something to hurt a man once, I shall not get the better of this by saying many thing... SAMUEL JOHNSON Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but per... SAMUEL JOHNSON Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance. SAMUEL JOHNSON Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. SAMUEL JOHNSON In all evils which admits a remedy, impatience should be avoided, because it wastes the time and att... SAMUEL JOHNSON Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dr... SAMUEL JOHNSON If a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written. SAMUEL JOHNSON Your manuscript is both good and original; but the parts that are good are not original, and the par... SAMUEL JOHNSON I found you essay to be good and original. However, the part that was original was not good and the ... SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull everywhere. He was dull in a new way, and that... SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, a man may be so much of everything, that he is nothing of anything. SAMUEL JOHNSON He who has provoked the shaft of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it. SAMUEL JOHNSON Nobody can write the life of a man but those who have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse ... SAMUEL JOHNSON Their learning is like bread in a besieged town: every man gets a little, but no man gets a full mea... SAMUEL JOHNSON As peace is the end of war, so to be idle is the ultimate purpose of the busy. SAMUEL JOHNSON Perhaps man is the only being that can properly be called idle. SAMUEL JOHNSON Turn on the prudent ant thy heedful eyes. Observe her labors, sluggard, and be wise. SAMUEL JOHNSON Lawyers know life practically. A bookish man should always have them to converse with. SAMUEL JOHNSON I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am afraid he is an ... SAMUEL JOHNSON What provokes your risibility, Sir? Have I said anything that you understand? Then I ask pardon of t... SAMUEL JOHNSON I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations. SAMUEL JOHNSON Language is only the instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas: I wish, however, t... SAMUEL JOHNSON The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it. SAMUEL JOHNSON More knowledge may be gained of a man's real character by a short conversation with one of his serva... SAMUEL JOHNSON Man is not weak; knowledge is more than equivalent to force. SAMUEL JOHNSON Knowledge always demands increase; it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external age... SAMUEL JOHNSON Knowledge is more than equivalent to force. SAMUEL JOHNSON All wonder is the effect of novelty on ignorance. SAMUEL JOHNSON Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upo... SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, they are a race of convicts, and ought to be thankful for anything we allow them short of hangi... SAMUEL JOHNSON A man who exposes himself when he is intoxicated, has not the art of getting drunk. SAMUEL JOHNSON There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a... SAMUEL JOHNSON There are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking; as there are fruits that are not good unti... SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, I have no objection to a man's drinking wine, if he can do it in moderation. I found myself apt... SAMUEL JOHNSON The advice that is wanted is commonly not welcome and that which is not wanted, evidently an effront... SAMUEL JOHNSON Disease generally begins that equality which death completes. SAMUEL JOHNSON The trade of advertising is now so near perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. B... SAMUEL JOHNSON Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially ... SAMUEL JOHNSON Players, Sir! I look on them as no better than creatures set upon tables and joint stools to make fa... SAMUEL JOHNSON Disappointment, when it involves neither shame nor loss, is as good as success; for it supplies as m... SAMUEL JOHNSON Every man who attacks my belief, diminishes in some degree my confidence in it, and therefore makes ... SAMUEL JOHNSON When speculation has done its worst, two and two still make four. SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, I have found you an argument. I am not obliged to find you an understanding. SAMUEL JOHNSON No member of society has the right to teach any doctrine contrary to what society holds to be true. SAMUEL JOHNSON It seems not more reasonable to leave the right of printing unrestrained, because writers may be aft... SAMUEL JOHNSON Censure is willingly indulged, because it always implies some superiority: men please themselves wit... SAMUEL JOHNSON There is nothing so much seduces reason from vigilance as the thought of passing life with an amiabl... SAMUEL JOHNSON Bravery has no place where it can avail nothing. SAMUEL JOHNSON He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions. SAMUEL JOHNSON Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is always respected, even when it ... SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, you have but two topics, yourself and me. I am sick of both. SAMUEL JOHNSON Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things ... SAMUEL JOHNSON There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. SAMUEL JOHNSON It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability. SAMUEL JOHNSON When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. SAMUEL JOHNSON Extended empires are like expanded gold, exchanging solid strength for feeble splendor. SAMUEL JOHNSON Those who attain to any excellence commonly spend life in some single pursuit, for excellence is not... SAMUEL JOHNSON Prepare for death, if here at night you roam, and sign your will before you sup from home. SAMUEL JOHNSON The happiest conversation is that of which nothing is distinctly remembered but a general effect of ... SAMUEL JOHNSON I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read. SAMUEL JOHNSON Christianity is the highest perfection of humanity. SAMUEL JOHNSON He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything. SAMUEL JOHNSON You are much surer that you are doing good when you pay money to those who work, as the recompense o... SAMUEL JOHNSON A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization. SAMUEL JOHNSON Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself ... SAMUEL JOHNSON I am sorry I have not learnt to play at cards. It is very useful in life: it generates kindness, and... SAMUEL JOHNSON Self-love is often rather arrogant than blind; it does not hide our faults from ourselves, but persu... SAMUEL JOHNSON Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess. SAMUEL JOHNSON Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, an... SAMUEL JOHNSON Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, a... SAMUEL JOHNSON No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money. SAMUEL JOHNSON He that fails in his endeavors after wealth or power will not long retain either honesty or courage. SAMUEL JOHNSON To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and la... SAMUEL JOHNSON Truth, Sir, is a cow which will yield such people no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bul... SAMUEL JOHNSON He that is already corrupt is naturally suspicious, and he that becomes suspicious will quickly beco... SAMUEL JOHNSON Suspicion is most often useless pain. SAMUEL JOHNSON Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment. SAMUEL JOHNSON Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are supplied must admit tho... SAMUEL JOHNSON I have always considered it as treason against the great republic of human nature, to make any man's... SAMUEL JOHNSON We are inclined to believe those whom we don not know because they have never deceived us. SAMUEL JOHNSON Small debts are like small gun shot; they are rattling around us on all sides and one can scarcely e... SAMUEL JOHNSON Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last. SAMUEL JOHNSON Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind. SAMUEL JOHNSON Criticism is a study by which men grow important and formidable at very small expense. He whom natur... SAMUEL JOHNSON Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well. SAMUEL JOHNSON I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be sile... SAMUEL JOHNSON He that pursues fame with just claims, trusts his happiness to the winds; but he that endeavors afte... SAMUEL JOHNSON To get a name can happen but to few; it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the f... SAMUEL JOHNSON We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again exp... SAMUEL JOHNSON Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying t... SAMUEL JOHNSON I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation... SAMUEL JOHNSON It is generally known, that he who expects much will be often disappointed; yet disappointment seldo... SAMUEL JOHNSON Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: b... SAMUEL JOHNSON Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy. SAMUEL JOHNSON No two men can be half an hour together but one shall acquire an evident superiority over the other. SAMUEL JOHNSON Nothing is more common than mutual dislike, where mutual approbation is particularly expected. SAMUEL JOHNSON The chains of habit are generally too week to be felt, until they are too strong to be broken. SAMUEL JOHNSON The habit of looking on the best side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a years. SAMUEL JOHNSON While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, ... SAMUEL JOHNSON Where grief is fresh, any attempt to divert it only irritates. SAMUEL JOHNSON The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little. SAMUEL JOHNSON He was dull in a new way, and that made many think him great. SAMUEL JOHNSON