Samuel Johnson Quotes
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Frugality may be termed the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance and the parent of Liberty.
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The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.
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Of Lord Chesterfield This man, I thought, had been a Lord among wits; but, I find, he is only a wit among Lords!
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Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for where there is nothing but pure misery there never is any recourse to the mention of it.
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A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority.
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In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath.
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Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise!From Marlb'rough's eyes the streams of dotage flow,And Swift expires, a driv'ler and a show.
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Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.
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Attack is the reaction; I never think I have hit hard unless it rebounds.
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But, perhaps, the excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some obvious and useful truth in few words.
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What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.
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I am very fond of the company of ladies. I like their beauty, I like their delicacy, I like their vivacity, and I like their silence.
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The trappings of a monarchy would set up an ordinary commonwealth.
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This mournful truth is ev'rywhere confessed - Slow rises worth, by poverty depressed.
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I do not know, sir, that the fellow is an infidel; but if he be an infidel, he is an infidel as a dog is an infidel; that is to say, he has never thought upon the subject.
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Nothing flatters a man as much as the happiness of his wife; he is always proud of himself as the source of it.
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Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.
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There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman.
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I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am afraid he is an attorney.
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The poet must write as the interpreter of nature and the legislator of mankind, and consider himself as presiding over the thoughts and manners of future generations, as a being superior to time and place.
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What is easy is seldom excellent.
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As with my hat upon my headI walk'd along the Strand,I there did meet another manWith his hat in his hand.
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Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.
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Every state of society is as luxurious as it can be. Men always take the best they can get.