Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head that I do not love you; you may settle yourself in… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Those who have past much of their lives in this great city, look upon its opulence and its multitudes, its extent and… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Every man is prompted by the love of himself to imagine that he possesses some qualities, superior, either in kind or degree,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own esteem. — 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
He that writes may be considered as a kind of general challenger, whom every one has a right to attack; since he… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There are, indeed, few kinds of composition from which an author, however learned or ingenious, can hope a long continuance of fame. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There are three distinct kind of judges upon all new authors or productions; the first are those who know no rules, but… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
A ship is worse than a gaol. There is, in a gaol, better air, better company, better conveniency of every kind; and… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
That eminence of learning is not to be gained without labour, at least equal to that which any other kind of greatness… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I know not anything more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Great abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent.… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I have often thought that there has rarely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would not be useful;… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Every man is prompted by the love of himself to imagine that he possesses some qualities superior, either in kind or degree,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Of all kinds of credulity, the most obstinate is that of party-spirit; of men, who, being numbered, they know not why, in… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Contempt is a kind of gangrene which, if it seizes one part of a character, corrupts all the rest by degrees. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There is no kind of idleness by which we are so easily seduced as that which dignifies itself by the appearance of… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there must not only be equal virtue on each part, but virtue of… — 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
