What signifies protesting so against flattery when a person speaks well of one, it must either be true or false, you know… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is necessary to the success of flattery, that it be accommodated to particular circumstances or characters, and enter the heart on… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Men are like stone jugs - you may lug them where you like by the ears. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Solitude is the surest nurse of all prurient passions, and a girl in the hurry of preparation, or tumult of gaiety, has… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Pope had been flattered till he thought himself one of the moving powers of the system of life. When he talked of… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it;… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
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
It is scarcely credible to what degree discernment may be dazzled by the mist of pride, and wisdom infatuated by the intoxication… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It was the maxim, I think, of Alphonsus of Aragon, that dead counsellors are safest. The grave puts an end to flattery… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Flattery pleases very generally. In the first place, the flatterer may think what he says to be true; but, in the second… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Whosoever shall look heedfully upon those who are eminent for their riches will not think their condition such as that he should… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It requires but little acquaintance with the heart to know that woman's first wish is to be handsome; and that, consequently, the… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
To be flattered is grateful, even when we know that our praises are not believed by those who pronounce them; for they… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present. The acknowledgment of those virtues on which conscience congratulates us is… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
No wonder, Sir, that he is vain; a man who is perpetually flattered in every mode that can be conceived. So many… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The mischief of flattery is, not that it persuades any man that he is what he is not, but that it suppresses… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Madam, before you flatter a man so grossly to his face, you should consider whether or not your flattery is worth his… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
But, perhaps, the flatterer is not often detected; for an honest mind is not apt to suspect, and no one exerts the… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Few men survey themselves with so much severity as not to admit prejudices in their own favour, which an artful flatterer may… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Men who stand in the highest ranks of society seldom hear of their faults; if by any accident an opprobrious clamour reaches… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is repaid in flattery. — 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
