Samuel Johnson

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.

Count on it, if a person talks of their misfortune, there is something in it that is not disagreeable to them.

The Irish are a fair people: They never speak well of one another.

The traveler that resolutely follows a rough and winding path will sooner reach the end of his journey than he that is always changing his direction, and wastes the hour of daylight in looking for smoother ground and shorter passages.

If a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written.

There are charms made only for distance admiration.

Both marriage and death ought to be welcome: The one promises happiness, doubtless the other assures it.

This is my first marriage. Beforehand, I was living in sin.

If you treat your wife like a thoroughbred, you’ll never end up with a nag.

What Michelle has done is to remind me every day of the virtues of order.

[on Michelle] After about 15 years I finally figured out that she’s always right!

Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures.

My last divorce was in ’68. What made it come to a head was a promise. See, I had promised her that the next year I wouldn’t work as much. But then I got in trouble with the IRS, and I had to continue working just as much to pay the government. So she said I lied, which is something I never did.

Many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side.

[on Michelle] Like a lot of political spouses, the role was thrust upon her. But I always knew she’d be incredible at it, and put her own unique stamp on the job. That’s because who you see is who she is-the brilliant, funny, generous woman who, for whatever reason, agreed to marry me. I think people gravitate to her because they see themselves in her-a dedicated mom, a good friend, and someone who’s not afraid to poke a little fun at herself from time to time.

Husbands and wives, have fun with each other. I’m convinced it makes all the difference in the world.

He didn’t dare to, because his father had a weak heart and habitually threatened to drop dead if anybody hurt his feelings. You may have noticed that people with weak hearts are the tyrants of English married life.

In matrimony, to hesitate is sometimes to be saved.

What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are but how you deal with incompatibility.

There’s a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It’s called marriage.

Call no man unhappy until he is married.