Samuel Johnson

The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labor tends, and of which every desire prompts the prosecution.

No man was ever great by imitation.

In all evils which admits a remedy, impatience should be avoided, because it wastes the time and attention in complaints which, if properly applied, might remove the cause.

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything.

To expect that the intricacies of science will be pierced by a careless glance, or the eminences of fame ascended without labour, is to expect a peculiar privilege, a power denied to the rest of mankind; but to suppose that the maze is inscrutable to diligence, or the heights inaccessible to perseverance, is to submit tamely to the tyranny of fancy, and enchain the mind in voluntary shackles.

Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but that of self interest backed by force.

We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found; and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself.

Even the youngest of us may be wrong sometimes.

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.

Sorrow is the rust of the soul and activity will cleanse and brighten it.

He who has never hoped can never despair.

Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is a fruit that, unsuspected, ripens with the flower of the pleasure that concealed it.

Not believing in force is the same as not believing in gravity.

We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.

Not even the Devil can call a woman “Slut” if he is not able to make her fall in love.

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.

Most men would feel insulted if it were proposed to employ them in throwing stones over a wall, and then in throwing them back, merely that they might earn their wages. But many are no more worthily employed now.

Try not. Do or do not… there is no try.

I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.

The French are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are.