We are easily shocked by crimes which appear at once in their full magnitude. But the gradual growth of our own wickedness, endeared by interest, and… - Samuel Johnson

" "

We are easily shocked by crimes which appear at once in their full magnitude. But the gradual growth of our own wickedness, endeared by interest, and palliated by all the artifices of self-deceit, gives us time to form distinctions in our own favor, and reason by degrees submits to absurdity, as the eye is in time accommodated to darkness.

English
Collect this quote

About Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 [7 September O.S.] – 13 December 1784) was a British author, linguist and lexicographer. He is often referred to as simply Dr. Johnson in the history of literature and is regarded as the greatest man of letters in English history.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Dr Johnson Dr. Johnson Great Moralist
Try QuoteGPT

Chat naturally about what you need. Each answer links back to real quotes with citations.

Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.

Shorter versions of this quote

Reason by degrees submits to absurdity, as the eye in time is accommodated to darkness.

Additional quotes by Samuel Johnson

The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.

Works in ChatGPT, Claude, or Any AI

Add semantic quote search to your AI assistant via MCP. One command setup.

Loading...