Those writers who lie on the watch for novelty can have little hope of greatness; for great things cannot have escaped former observation.
Samuel JohnsonWhat I gained by being in France was learning to be better satisfied with my own country.
Samuel JohnsonCritics ought never to be consulted, but while errors may yet be rectified or insipidity suppressed. But when the book has once been dismissed into the world, and can be no more retouched, I know not whether a very different conduct should not be prescribed, and whether firmness and spirit may not sometimes be of use to overpower arrogance and repel brutality.
Samuel Johnson