These are the men who, without virtue, labour, or hazard, are growing rich, as their country is impoverished; they rejoice, when obstinacy… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Without good humour, learning and bravery can only confer that superiority which swells the heart of the lion in the desert, where… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
So willing is every man to flatter himself, that the difference between approving laws, and obeying them, is frequently forgotten; he that… — 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
To love their country has been considered as virtue in men, whose love could not be otherwise than blind, because their preference… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
If misery be the effect of virtue, it ought to be reverenced; if of ill-fortune, to be pitied; and if of vice,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I love the acquaintance of young people; because, in the first place, I do not like to think myself growing old. In… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
..to write and to live are very different. Many who praise virtue, do no more than praise it. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
No man, however enslaved to his appetites, or hurried by his passions, can, while he preserves his intellects unimpaired, please himself with… — 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
Wickedness is always easier than virtue; for it takes the short cut to everything. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
To preserve health is a moral and religious duty, for health is the basis of all social virtues. We can no longer… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of one man often make… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is, indeed, at home that every man must be known by those who would make a just estimate either of his… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our houses let… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Among many parallels which men of imagination have drawn between the natural and moral state of the world, it has been observed… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is always respected, even when it is associated with vice. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Since every man is obliged to promote happiness and virtue, he should be careful not to mislead unwary minds, by appearing to… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There are occasions on which it is noble to dare to stand alone. To be pious among infidels, to be disinterested in… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Virtue is uncommon in all the classes of humanity; and I suppose it will scarcely be imagined more frequent in a prison… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
A newswriter is a man without virtue, who lies at home for his own profit. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There is no wisdom in useless and hopeless sorrow, but there is something in it so like virtue, that he who is… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
They whose activity of imagination is often shifting the scenes of expectation, are frequently subject to such sallies of caprice as make… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
To preserve health is a moral and religious duty: for health is the basis of all social virtues; and we can be… — 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
