Samuel Johnson

The mind is refrigerated by interruption; the thoughts are diverted from the principal subject; the reader is weary, he suspects not why; and at last throws away the book, which he has too diligently studied.

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.

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.

It is wonderful when a calculation is made, how little the mind is actually employed in the discharge of any profession.

There are innumerable questions to which the inquisitive mind can in this state receive no answer: Why do you and I exist? Why was this world created? Since it was to be created, why was it not created sooner?

Shame arises from the fear of men, conscience from the fear of God.

I think there’s a great beauty to having problems. That’s one of the ways we learn.

I’ve never any pity for conceited people, because I think they carry their comfort about with them.

The only guide to man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honor.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.

Pain is less subject than pleasure to careless expression.

Ask counsel of both timesof the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time what is fittest.

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

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

Tis the old secret of the gods that they come in low disguises.

The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.

The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.

If thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God; and to do that, thou must be ruled by him who has given to kings his grace to command themselves and their subjects, and to the people the grace to obey God and their kings.

There is only one thing about which I shall have no regrets when my life ends. I have savored to the full all the small, daily joys. The bright sunshine on the breakfast table; the smell of the air at dusk; the sound of the clock ticking; the light rains that start gently after midnight; the hour when the family come home; Sunday-evening tea before the fire! I have never missed one moment of beauty, not even taken it for granted. Spring, summer, autumn, or winter. I wish I had failed as little in other ways.

A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, The one I feed the most. On Other Peoples Expectations: The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor; he took my measurement anew every time he saw me, while all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me.