You think I love flattery (says Dr. Johnson), and so I do; but a little too much always disgusts me: that fellow… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Happiness is enjoyed only in proportion as it is known; and such is the state or folly of man, that it is… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
No member of a society has a right to teach any doctrine contrary to what the society holds to be true. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Commerce however we may please ourselves with the contrary opinion, is one of the daughters of fortune, inconstant and deceitful as her… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The rules that I shall propose concerning secrecy, and from which I think it not safe to deviate without long and exact… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Consultation and compliance can conduce little to the perfection of any literary performance; for whoever is so doubtful of his own abilities… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
