What an insignificant life is this which I am now leading!

I argued that the chastity of women was of much more consequence than that of men, as the property and rights of families depend upon it.

What an insignificant life is this which I am now leading!

I am, I flatter myself, completely a citizen of the world. In my travels through Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Corsica, France, I never felt myself from home.

I suppose no person ever enjoyed with more relish the infusion of that fragrant leaf than Johnson.

When we know exactly all a man's views and how he comes to speak and act so and so, we lose any respect for him, though we may love and admire him.

I went to my father's at night. He spoke of poor John [Boswell's brother] with disgust. I was shocked and said, "He's your son, and God made him." He answered very harshly, "If my sons are idiots, can I help it?