Samuel Johnson

Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble.

The most fatal disease of friendship is gradual decay, or dislike hourly increased by causes too slender for complaint, and too numerous for removal.

Their learning is like bread in a besieged town: every man gets a little, but no man gets a full meal.

For who is pleased with himself.

To get a name can happen but to few; it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the free gift of mankind, which must be deserved before it will be granted, and is at last unwillingly bestowed.

The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little.

Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.

Don’t learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world.

Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance.

If a man sits down to think, he is immediately asked if has a headache.

Life gives nothing to man without labor.

You cannot dream yourself into a character you must hammer and forge yourself into one.

Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments.

Every man over forty is a scoundrel.

Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.

Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.

Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.

You who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities and think long and hard on what your powers are equal to and what they are unable to perform.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

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 dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.