SAMUEL JOHNSON
English author, critic, & lexicographer.
(1709 - 1784)
"Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable."
"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure."
"Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others."
"It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time."
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
"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."
"Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance."
"Every quotation contributes something to the stability or enlargement of the language."
"If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary be not idle."
"There are, in every age, new errors to be rectified and new prejudices to be opposed."
"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind."
"Anybody who thinks of going to bed before 12 o'clock is a scoundrel."
"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."
"It is better to live rich than to die rich."
"We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us."
"A cucumber should be well-sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out."