Every man has frequent grievances which only the solicitude of friendship will discover and remedy, and which would remain for ever unheeded in the mighty heap of human calamity, were it only surveyed by the eye of general benevolence equally attentive to every misery.
Samuel JohnsonHe who would govern his actions by the laws of virtue must regulate his thoughts by those of reason.
Samuel JohnsonA successful author is equally in danger of the diminution of his fame, whether he continues or ceases to write.
Samuel JohnsonAmong the numerous requisites that must concur to complete an author, few are of more importance than an early entrance into the living world. The seed of knowledge may be planted in solitude, but must be cultivated in public. Argumentation may be taught in colleges, and theories formed in retirement; but the artifice of embellishment and the powers of attraction can be gained only by a general converse.
Samuel Johnson