Samuel Johnson

Round numbers are always false.

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

They that have grown old in a single state are generally found to be morose, fretful and captious; tenacious of their own practices and maxims; soon offended by contradiction or negligence; and impatient of any association but with those that will watch their nod, and submit themselves to unlimited authority.

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.

Small debts are like small shot; they are rattling on every side, and can scarcely be escaped without a wound.

Words are but the signs of ideas.

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

In Boston they ask, How much does he know? In New York, How much is he worth? In Philadelphia, Who were his parents?

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.

It were better to be of no church, than to be bitter for any.

The only thing grief as taught me is to know how shallow it is.

Good poetry seems too simple and natural a thing that when we meet it we wonder that all men are not always poets. Poetry is nothing but healthy speech.

Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends… Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

Hurricanes are named after people, baby, and I hope you know that falling in love with me will be so much more treacherous than boarding up the windows and waiting for me to pass.

Breed is stronger than pasture.

I am easily satisfied with the very best.

Old men are dangerous: it doesn’t matter to them what is going to happen to the world.

Nothing is so exhilarating in life as to be shot at with no result.

Friendship is the marriage of the soul, and this marriage is liable to divorce.