The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions; their learning instructs, and their subtlety surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased.
Samuel Johnson
Related I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES We have tears in our eyes As we wave our goodbyes, We so loved being with you, we three. ROALD DAHL Idea is an introduction to creativity that gives birth to reality. STEPHEN MAGNUS Desultory readers are seldom remarkable for the exactness of their learning. ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE Everyone gets dumped and everyone gets hurt and there's karma to love in regards to what you'... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS My dad's quite a conservative person, and he brought me up to be very questioning of the commerc... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I don't think she's a lesbian. I think she just ran out of men. [Charlotte] SEX AND THE CITY When you are with the wrong person, who doesn't really love you, all you want is to be adored. I... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I really like the look of the 1950s, lots of suburban Americana influences. I'm 5'4', so... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I am very curvy, so the vintage stores suit me better than most designers. I just can't seem to ... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I have quite a lot of plastic sunglasses. It's just a nice accessory, it adds a final thing, and... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I lived in Greece for about four years of my life, and living there had a huge impact on my life gro... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I love natural beauty, and I think it's your best look, but I think makeup as an artist is so tr... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I think celebrity culture and sexuality in pop music is really important, but I want there to be an ... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I'm not really part of that 'L.A. thing' or that celebrity culture. I'm more like so... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS This obsession with celebrity culture is really unhealthy. I don't want to live my life like tha... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Even when I see a beautiful woman, I think, 'Aw, her life must be amazing.' Everyone does it... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Blonde symbolises sexuality and power - it holds very different connotations. The archetypal star ha... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Love is really my nemesis. I never really allowed myself to indulge in such basic things because I w... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Britney Spears is a big influence. Huge. I think people thought I was joking about that for a long t... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Puberty is a phase... fifteen years of rejection is a lifestyle. [Stanford] SEX AND THE CITY I criticized the whole American songwriting industry and the pop side of it and I was bitter about i... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I often take things I find in vintage crawls and hand them to a very good seamstress, who then repli... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I've read every Madonna biography. I've also looked up every pop star to see how they first ... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Oh my God, she's fashion road-kill! SEX AND THE CITY I love you, but I love myself more. SEX AND THE CITY Maybe mistakes are what make our fate... without them what would shape our lives? Maybe if we had ne... SEX AND THE CITY Desperate Housewives. SEX AND THE CITY Sean (while ice-skating with Carrie): I'm guessing it's easier to balance when you're not smoking.Ca... SEX AND THE CITY I want you to look at me, connect with me. This is lovemaking, it's not a porno flick. [Maria] SEX AND THE CITY I once was broken up with by a guy's doorman. 'I'm sorry Ms. Hobbes, Jonathan won't be coming down. ... SEX AND THE CITY I feel like everyone has the right to privacy, even if you're the most famous person in the worl... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS When you are in the studio, you don't have anybody to feed off of; meanwhile, when you are playi... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I am absolutely not a roll-on-stage kind of girl! I would be totally freaked out if I didn't war... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS It's a slippery slope, Carrie. Without boundaries you never know what might happen. [Miranda] SEX AND THE CITY the sort of person who'd back Proposition 14. SEX AND THE CITY A stud is born! [Stanford] SEX AND THE CITY Maybe we should get married.[Charlotte] Alrighty.[Trey] SEX AND THE CITY My Zen teacher also said: the only way to true happiness is to live in the moment and not worry abou... SEX AND THE CITY Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. SEX AND THE CITY No lady likes to dance or dine, accompanied by a porcupine. Burma Shave. SEX AND THE CITY I don't think I'm an instantaneous act the whole world will love in one second - but that... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS What's the big mystery? It's my vagina, not the sphinx! [Miranda] SEX AND THE CITY My style icons are Leigh Lezark, Gwen Stefani and Shirley Manson. MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I do have a memo all the time because I need to be guided by something in my life. I'm not relig... MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS I'm masquerading as an innocent pop star. MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS the lights fade to black. SEX AND THE CITY Yeah, I would love to. I don't know if I'd do another singing one. SEX AND THE CITY Bellhop: "this is a non-smoking floor."Carrie: "I have an addiction sir!" SEX AND THE CITY F*** me badly once, shame on you. F*** me badly twice, shame on me. SEX AND THE CITY Hasty Pudding is no small potatoes (sorry to mix the food references), known for its famous alumni a... SEX AND THE CITY I knew I wanted a handbag, but they were so pricey. I love Marc Jacobs. SEX AND THE CITY All other documents in the Getty's possession that could in any way be relevant to the Italian inves... SEX AND THE CITY 'Rome' vital to HBO TV empire. SEX AND THE CITY Sex and the City. SEX AND THE CITY Suicide is not glamorous and should not be portrayed in a glamorous light. SEX AND THE CITY When an opportunity comes, I don't question it. I grab it, drop its ring on the nightstand and swing... SEX AND THE CITY Having money isn't the answer but it makes your life a hell of a lot nicer. If you have the choice t... SEX AND THE CITY Despite the fact that there are over eight million people on the island of Manhattan, there are time... SEX AND THE CITY When Charlotte really liked somebody she said their whole name. It helped her picture their future m... SEX AND THE CITY I love you but it's not my job to fix your finances. [Charlotte] SEX AND THE CITY It took me a really long time to get here, but I'm here. Carrie, you're the one. [Mr.Big] SEX AND THE CITY Life is not all about sex. [Samantha] SEX AND THE CITY When Charles Dickens wrote "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," I believe he must ... SEX AND THE CITY From my experience, honey, if he seems too good to be true—he probably is. [Samantha] SEX AND THE CITY Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there. SEX AND THE CITY Maybe all men are a drug. Sometimes they bring you down and sometimes, like now, they get you so hig... SEX AND THE CITY My character, she's kind of gotten away with her looks, gotten away with her ability to charm people... SEX AND THE CITY I admit it's tempting to wish for the perfect boss - the perfect parent - or the perfect outfit. But... SEX AND THE CITY Charlotte: So how are you? Carrie: I'm good. How are you? Charlotte: Great. Carrie: I to... SEX AND THE CITY I had often fantasized about running into my ex and his wife. But in those fantasies, I was running ... SEX AND THE CITY From my experience, honey, if he seems too good to be truehe probably is. [Samantha] SEX AND THE CITY I'm thinking balls are to men what purses are to women. It's just a little bag, but we feel naked in... SEX AND THE CITY They practically chased me with torches like I was Fuckenstein! [Samantha] SEX AND THE CITY Middle-Age Girls Gone Wild. SEX AND THE CITY You in a threesome? You won't even wear a thong! [Samantha] SEX AND THE CITY The only thing worse than a liar is a bad liar. [Lucy Liu] SEX AND THE CITY It's my birthday. I'm officially old. [Carrie on her 35th Birthday] SEX AND THE CITY You men have no idea what we're dealing with down there. Teeth placement, and jaw stress, and suctio... SEX AND THE CITY But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with your... SEX AND THE CITY Junkyard Wars. SEX AND THE CITY Kitchen SEX AND THE CITY Sometimes we need to stop analyzing the past, stop planning the future, stop figuring out precisely ... SEX AND THE CITY You shouldn't have to sacrifice who you are just because somebody else has a problem with it. SEX AND THE CITY I don't believe in the Republican party or the Democratic party. I just believe in parties. [Samanth... SEX AND THE CITY I’ve done the merry-go-round, I’ve been through the revolving doors, I feel like I’ve met some... SEX AND THE CITY There are no available men in their thirties in New York. Giuliani had them removed along with the h... SEX AND THE CITY Men in their forties are like the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle: tricky, complicated, and y... SEX AND THE CITY You wouldn't commit to a nice guy, given the option? [Carrie] I can't even commit to a long distance... SEX AND THE CITY She can reach me, but I can't ever get her. [Big] SEX AND THE CITY The Brady Bunch: The Complete Fourth Season SEX AND THE CITY Everybody wonders what happens after you die[Carrie] I'm too busy wondering who's dinging my car in ... SEX AND THE CITY Beverly Hills Cop II. SEX AND THE CITY It's not the beef, Henry. It's the last 23 years! SEX AND THE CITY I will never be the woman with the perfect hair, who can wear white and not spill on it. SEX AND THE CITY Hi, Mrs. Collier. I'm a Jew now. How are you? [Charlotte] SEX AND THE CITY Ray. SEX AND THE CITY There was so much skin, it was like a shar-pei![Charlotte] SEX AND THE CITY I don't know what's going to happen to this street. Fairfax is not what it used to be. SEX AND THE CITY Really wanted a little baby to love, though not, obviously, weekend nanny to shag ex-husband. SEX AND THE CITY
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 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 No one ever became great by imitation. SAMUEL JOHNSON