Samuel Johnson

Nay, Madam, when you are declaiming, declaim; and when you are calculating, calculate.

A continual feast of commendation is only to be obtained by merit or by wealth: many are therefore obliged to content themselves with single morsels, and recompense the infrequency of their enjoyment by excess and riot, whenever fortune sets the banquet before them.

The blaze of reputation cannot be blown out, but it often dies in the socket; a very few names may be considered as perpetual lamps that shine unconsumed.

The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.

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.

Getting money is not all a man’s business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

Every man is an impossibility until he is born.

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.

In a battle all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it’s more dangerous to lose than to win.

Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous. If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life … would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.

Your path will unfold as you walk it, step by step, each one a choice. Be mindful of where you put your feet; sometimes you will step on something sharp. This is a lesson; pay attention. Sometimes you will walk on soft green grass and you will stop and stay awhile. Enjoy those moments. Keep your eyes and heart on your destination and discover your way, one step at a time.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. They prefer suffering that is familiar to the unknown.

If a man knew anything, he would sit in a corner and be modest; but he is such an ignorant peacock, that he goes bustling up and down, and hits on extraordinary discoveries.

A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

I can live for two months on a good compliment.

Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost.

Self-preservation is the first law of nature.