Samuel Johnson

When people find a man of the most distinguished abilities as a writer their inferior while he is with them, read more

When people find a man of the most distinguished abilities as a writer their inferior while he is with them, it must be highly gratifying to them.

Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place
where he is not known. read more

Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place
where he is not known. Don't let him go to the devil where he is
known.

Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation read more

Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations from seeing a creature in distress, without pity; but we have not pity unless we wish to relieve him.

This man [Chesterfield] I thought had been a lord among wits; but
I find he is only a wit read more

This man [Chesterfield] I thought had been a lord among wits; but
I find he is only a wit among lords.

Fine clothes are good only as they supply the want of other means
of procuring respect.

Fine clothes are good only as they supply the want of other means
of procuring respect.