There is not, perhaps, to a mind well instructed, a more painful occurrence, than the death of one we have injured without reparation.
Samuel JohnsonGuilt once harbored in the conscious breast, intimidates the brave, degrades the great.
Samuel JohnsonAll unnecessary vows are folly, because they suppose a prescience of the future, which has not been given us.
Samuel JohnsonGreat abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention. Imagination is not required in any degree; only about as much as is used in the lowest kinds of poetry. Some penetration, accuracy, and coloring, will fit a man for the task, if he can give the application which is necessary.
Samuel Johnson