Samuel Johnson

There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful.

Language is the dress of thought.

There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman.

He who praises everybody, praises nobody.

When any calamity has been suffered the first thing to be remembered is, how much has been escaped.

Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.

All I want to do is change the world.

Friends, such as we desire, are dreams and fables.

Wise men are not wise at all hours, and will speak five times from their taste or their humor, to once from their reason.

The only things one can admire at length are those one admires without knowing why.

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.

Above anything else, I hate to lose.

Where women love each other, men learn to smother their mutual dislike.

To him whom contemplates a trait of natural beauty, no harm nor despair can come. The doctrines of despair, spiritual or political servitude, were never taught by those who shared the serenity of Nature. For each phase of Nature, though not invisible, is yet not too distinct or obtrusive. It is there to be found when we look for it, but not too demanding of our attention.

The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does not make a speech; he takes a low business-tone, avoids all brag, is nobody, dresses plainly, promises not at all, performs much, speaks in monosyllables, hugs his fact. He calls his employment by its lowest name, and so takes from evil tongues their sharpest weapon. His conversation clings to the weather and the news, yet he allows himself to be surprised into thought, and the unlocking of his learning and philosophy.

Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what you like. Hell, in short, is a place where you have nothing to do but amuse yourself.

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.

Discord is the great ill of mankind; and tolerance is the only remedy for it.

There mark what ills the scholar’s life assail, toil, envy, want, and patron.

One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

Man is God’s highest present development. He is the latest thing in God.