I look upon this as I did upon the Dictionary: it is all work, and my inducement to it is not love or desire of fame, but the want of money, which is the only motive to writing that I know of.(On the task of editing Shakespeare, which John Hawkins told Johnson should be intrinsically […]
Samuel Johnson Quotes
Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.
I have always said, the first Whig was the Devil.
Despair is criminal.
Every desire is a viper in the bosom, who, while he was chill, was harmless; but when warmth gave him strength, exerted it in poison.
Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion; and he whose real wants are supplied, must admit those of fancy.
In the endless variety of tastes and circumstances that diversify mankind, nothing is so superfluous, but that some one desires it: or so common, but that someone is compelled to buy it. As nothing is useless but because it is in improper hands, what is thrown away by one is gathered up my another; and […]
The desires of mankind are much more numerous than their attainments, and the capacity of imagination much larger than actual enjoyment. Multitudes are therefore unsatisfied with their allotment.
It is very common for us to desire most what we are least qualified to obtain.
The inevitable consequence of poverty is dependence.
