Samuel Johnson

Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil; but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it. It should not be suffered to tyrannize

Life will not bear refinement. You must do as other people do.

Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull everywhere. He was dull in a new way, and that made many people think him great.

No man is much regarded by the rest of the world. He that considers how little he dwells upon the condition of others, will learn how little the attention of others is attracted by himself. While we see multitudes passing before us, of whom perhaps not one appears to deserve our notice or excites our sympathy, we should remember, that we likewise are lost in the same throng, that the eye which happens to glance upon us is turned in a moment on him that follows us, and that the utmost which we can reasonably hope or fear is to fill a vacant hour with prattle, and be forgotten.

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

He that pursues fame with just claims, trusts his happiness to the winds; but he that endeavors after it by false merit, has to fear, not only the violence of the storm, but the leaks of his vessel.

It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.

If misery loves company, misery has company enough.

Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price.

Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those who diffuse it: it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker.

That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own esteem.

When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.

One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.

If man had created man, he would be ashamed of his performance.

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.

A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa.

Sir, I have no objection to a man’s drinking wine, if he can do it in moderation. I found myself apt to go to excess in it, and therefore, after having been for some time without it, on account of illness, I thought it better not to return to it. Every man is to judge for himself, according to the effects which he experiences.

Man – a creature made at the end of the week’s work when God was tired.

He that thinks he can afford to be negligent is not far from being poor.