Samuel Johnson

His scorn of the great is repeated too often to be real; no man thinks much of that which he despises.

To keep your secret is wisdom, but to expect others to keep it is folly.

It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.

It is not from reason and prudence that people marry, but from inclination.

It is generally known, that he who expects much will be often disappointed; yet disappointment seldom cures us of expectation, or has any effect other than that of producing a moral sentence or peevish exclamation.

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

Guilt, regret, resentment, sadness and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past and not enough presence.

Trust instinct to the end, even though you can give no reason.

The fortune which nobody sees makes a person happy and unenvied.

Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be.

History may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme a lot

Man can climb to the highest summits, but he cannot dwell there long.

There is a time when a man distinguishes the idea of felicity from the idea of wealth; it is the beginning of wisdom.

God screens us evermore from premature ideas.

The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting.

All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.

The trade of advertising is now so near perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. But as every art ought to be exercised in due subordination to the public good, I cannot but propose it as a moral question to these masters of the public ear, whether they do not sometimes play too wantonly with our passions.

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