Samuel Johnson

England
18 Sep 1709 // 13 Dec 1784
Writer

Quotes

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Life is a pill which none of us can bear to swallow without gilding
Life has no pleasure higher or nobler than that of friendship
Justice is indispensably and universally necessary, and what is necessary must always be limited, uniform, and distinct
Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present
Judgment is forced upon us by experience
It very seldom happens to a man that his business is his pleasure
It is very common for us to desire most what we are least qualified to obtain
Instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the performances by the man
In all political regulations, good cannot be complete, it can only be predominant
In all pointed sentences, some degree of accuracy must be sacrificed to conciseness
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays