Samuel Johnson Quotes

A jest breaks no bones.

Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win

A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.

But the truth is, that no man is much regarded by the rest of the world, except where the interest of others is involved in his fortune. The common employments or pleasures of life, love or opposition, loss or gain, keep almost every mind in perpetual agitation. If any man would consider how little he dwells upon the condition of others, he would learn how little the attention of others is attracted by himself.

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

All severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle.

I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else.

Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.

GRUBSTREET — The name of a street near Moorsfield, London, much inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and temporary poems.

Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea.

Power and wealth supply the place of each other. Power confers the ability of gratifying our desire without the consent of others. Wealth enables us to obtain the consent of others to our gratification. Power, simply considered, whatever it confers on one, must take from another. Wealth enables its owner to give to others, by taking only from himself. Power pleases the violent and proud: wealth delights the placid and the timorous. Youth therefore flies at power, and age grovels after riches.

While she was doing something she kept her hope alive.

As I know more of mankind, I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man, upon easier terms than I was formerly.

Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.

AMBRY (A'MBRY) n.s.[a word corrupted from almonry.]1. The place where the almoner lives, or where alms are distributed.2. The place where plate, and utensils for housekeeping, are kept; also a cupboard for keeping cold victuals:a word still used in the northern counties, and in Scotland.