It is not difficult to conceive, however, that for many reasons a man writes much better than he lives. For without entering… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Wisdom and virtue are by no means sufficient, without the supplemental laws of good-breeding, to secure freedom from degenerating into rudeness, or… — 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
There is reason to suspect, that the distinctions of mankind have more show than value, when it is found that all agree… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Advice, as it always gives a temporary appearance of superiority, can never be very grateful, even when it is most necessary or… — 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
Locke, whom there is no reason to suspect of being a favorer of idleness or libertinism, has advanced that whoever hopes to… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Admiration must be continued by that novelty which first produces it; and how much soever is given, there must always be reason… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The world will never be long without some good reason to hate the unhappy; their real faults are immediately detected; and if… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There is nothing more dreadful to an author than neglect; compared with which reproach, hatred, and opposition are names of happiness; yet… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
“There is no problem the mind of man can set that the mind of man cannot solve.” — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Among the innumerable mortifications which waylay human arrogance on every side may well be reckoned our ignorance of the most common objects… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Reason elevates our thoughts as high as the stars, and leads us through the vast space of this mighty fabric; yet it… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Sir, sorrow is inherent in humanity. As you cannot judge two and two to be either five, or three, but certainly four,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
What is the reason that women servants ... have much lower wages than men servants ... when in fact our female house… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
We have less reason to be surprised or offended when we find others differ from us in opinion, because we very often… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument. — 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
The duty of criticism is neither to depreciate nor dignify by partial representations, but to hold out the light of reason, whatever… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
None but those who have learned the art of subjecting their senses as well as reason to hypothetical systems can be persuaded… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is not from reason and prudence that people marry, but from inclination. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason.… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I have two very cogent reasons for not printing any list of subscribers; one, that I have lost all the names, the… — 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
