Sir, you must not neglect doing a thing immediately good from fear of remote evil; -from fear of its being abused. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The misery of man proceeds not from any single crush of overwhelming evil, but from small vexations continually repeated. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
He that would travel for the entertainment of others, should remember that the great object of remark is human life. Every nation… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Those who are in the power of evil habits must conquer them as they can; and conquered they must be, or neither… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Many of our miseries are merely comparative: we are often made unhappy, not by the presence of any real evil, but by… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Combinations of wickedness would overwhelm the world, by the advantage which licentious principles afford, did not those who have long practised perfidy… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Our minds should not be empty because if they are not preoccupied by good, evil will break in upon them. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Almost all the moral good which is left among us is the apparent effect of physical evil. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Wine gives great pleasure; and every pleasure is of itself a good. It is a good, unless counterbalanced by evil. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
To prevent evil is the great end of government, the end for which vigilance and severity are properly employed. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Health is certainly more valuable than money; because it is by health that money is procured; but thousands and millions are of… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Wickedness is always easier than virtue; for it takes the short cut to everything. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The business of life is to go forward; he who sees evil in prospect meets it in his way, and he who… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Evil is uncertain in the same degree as good, and for the reason that we ought not to hope too securely, we… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
As the greatest liar tells more truths than falsehoods, so may it be said of the worst man, that he does more… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is unpleasing to represent our affairs to our own disadvantage; yet it is necessary to shew the evils which we desire… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
But it is evident, that these bursts of universal distress are more dreaded than felt; thousands and ten thousands flourish in youth,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; and he may be properly charged with evil who refused to learn how he might… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
In all evils which admits a remedy, impatience should be avoided, because it wastes the time and attention in complaints which, if… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
No evil is insupportable but that which is accompanied with consciousness of wrong. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
In all evils which admit a remedy, impatience is to be avoided, because it wastes that time and attention in complaints, that,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is generally allowed, that no man ever found the happiness of possession proportionate to that expectation which incited his desire, and… — 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
