Samuel Johnson

There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman.

More knowledge may be gained of a man’s real character by a short conversation with one of his servants than from a formal and studied narrative, begun with his pedigree and ended with his funeral.

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

He may justly be numbered among the benefactors of mankind, who contracts the great rules of life into short sentences, that may early be impressed on the memory, and taught by frequent recollection to occur habitually to the mind.

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

A man may be so much of everything that he is nothing of anything.

We are in fact convinced that if we are ever to have pure knowledge of anything, we must get rid of the body and contemplate things by themselves with the soul by itself. It seems, to judge from the argument, that the wisdom which we desire and upon which we profess to have set our hearts will be attainable only when we are dead and not in our lifetime.

Let your character be kept up the very end, just as it began, and so be consistent.

In conversation the game is, to say something new with old words. And you shall observe a man of the people picking his way along, step by step, using every time an old boulder, yet never setting his foot on an old place.

Ahh, that mountain of self-discovery. Every time you have reached the summit, the clouds clear and you see there is still a ways to go. Don’t look up with thoughts of despair; thinking how much further do I have to go?! Take a moment and look back to see how far you have come. Don’t lose sight of your accomplishments, and focus on the continued commitment to self-discovery and development.

I talk democracy to these men and women. I tell them that they have the vote, and that theirs is the kingdom and the power and the glory. I say to them You are supreme: exercise your power. They say, That’s right: tell us what to do; and I tell them. I say Exercise our vote intelligently by voting for me. And they do. That’s democracy; and a splendid thing it is too for putting the right men in the right place.

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

It doesn’t matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.

I found you essay to be good and original. However, the part that was original was not good and the part that was good was not original.

Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself.

Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art.

My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.

We have more than we use.

He who is upright in his way of life and free from sin.

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

I never thought much of the courage of a lion tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people.