Samuel Johnson

I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.

There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.

Poverty is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the task of many people to conceal their neediness from others. Consequently they support themselves by temporary means, and everyday is lost in contriving for tomorrow.

Distance has the same effect on the mind as on the eye.

Prejudice not being funded on reason cannot be removed by argument.

No man is a hypocrite in his pleasures.

It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire and many things to fear.

Independence? That’s middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.

Better is the enemy of good.

Self-realization is effortless. What you are trying to find is what you already are.

Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.

Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.

The torpid artist seeks inspiration at any cost, by virtue or by vice, by friend or by fiend, by prayer or by wine.

Punishment closely follows guilt as its companion.

Knowledge always demands increase; it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but will afterwards always propagate itself.

We know better than we do. We do not yet possess ourselves…

Do not tell me of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee, thou foolish philanthropist, that I grudge the dollar, the dime, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me and to whom I do not belong.

We all have our challenges, issues, things that we’re working through and insecurity is there because nobody is perfect no matter who you are. It’s that imperfection that makes you so dope.

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.

I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge.

Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor’s wall is ablaze.