It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.
Samuel JohnsonThere are, indeed, few kinds of composition from which an author, however learned or ingenious, can hope a long continuance of fame.
Samuel JohnsonVanity is so frequently the apparent motive of advice that we, for the most part, summon our powers to oppose it without very accurate inquiry whether it is right. It is sufficient that another is growing great in his own eyes at our expense, and assumes authority over us without our permission; for many would contentedly suffer the consequences of their own mistakes, rather than the insolence of him who triumphs as their deliverer.
Samuel Johnson