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Wit Is That Which Has Been Often Thought, But Never Before Was Well Expressed.
-Samuel Johnson
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Wit Is That Which

Samuel Johnson
...
Wit Is That Which Has Been Often Thought, But Never Before Was Well Expressed.

Understanding the Quote: "wit is that which has been often thought, but never before was..."

This quote by Samuel Johnson reflects deeply on the theme of wit. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Wit, Wells, Has Beens, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Samuel Johnson interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson is celebrated for insightful thoughts on wit and wells. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Wit
Wells
Has Beens
More From Samuel Johnson
All Truth Is Valuable, And Satirical Criticism May Be Considered As Useful When It Rectifies Error And Improves Judgment; He That Refines The Public Taste Is A Public Benefactor.
Errors
Criticism
May
We Are More Pained By Ignorance Than Delighted By Instruction.
Ignorance
Instruction
Delighted
Preserve Me From Unseasonable And Immoderate Sleep.
Sleep
Preserves
He That Would Travel For The Entertainment Of Others, Should Remember That The Great Object Of Remark Is Human Life. Every Nation Has Something Peculiar In Its Manufactures, Its Works Of Genius, Its Medicines, Its Agriculture, Its Customs, And Its Policy. He Only Is A Useful Traveller, Who Brings Home Something By Which His Country May Be Benefited; Who Procures Some Supply Of Want, Or Some Mitigation Of Evil, Which May Enable His Readers To Compare Their Condition With That Of Others, To Improve It Whenever It Is Worse, And Whenever It Is Better To Enjoy It.
Country
Home
Medicine
Riches Seldom Make Their Owners Rich.
Riches
Wealth
Rich
It Is So Far From Being Natural For A Man And Woman To Live In A State Of Marriage, That We Find All The Motives Which They Have For Remaining In That Connection, And The Restraints Which Civilised Society Imposes To Prevent Separation, Are Hardly Sufficient To Keep Them Together.
Marriage
Men
Together
Such Is The State Of Life, That None Are Happy But By The Anticipation Of Change: The Change Itself Is Nothing; When We Have Made It, The Next Wish Is To Change Again.
Wish
Next
Anticipation
The Duty Of Criticism Is Neither To Depreciate Nor Dignify By Partial Representations, But To Hold Out The Light Of Reason, Whatever It May Discover; And To Promulgate The Determinations Of Truth, Whatever She Shall Dictate
Determination
Light
Criticism
Nothing Will Ever Be Attempted If All Possible Objections Must First Be Overcome.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
Wheresoe'er I Turn My View, All Is Strange, Yet Nothing New: Endless Labor All Along, Endless Labor To Be Wrong: Phrase That Time Has Flung Away; Uncouth Words In Disarray, Trick'd In Antique Ruff And Bonnet, Ode, And Elegy, And Sonnet.
Views
Poetry
Phrases
Curiosity Is One Of The Most Permanent And Certain Characteristics Of A Vigorous Intellect.
Education
Curiosity
Genius
There Is Less Flogging In Our Great Schools Than Formerly-but Then Less Is Learned There; So What The Boys Get At One End They Lose At The Other.
Education
Learning
School
Guilt Once Harbored In The Conscious Breast, Intimidates The Brave, Degrades The Great.
Brave
Guilt
Intimidating
The Mischief Of Flattery Is, Not That It Persuades Any Man That He Is What He Is Not, But That It Suppresses The Influence Of Honest Ambition, By Raising An Opinion That Honour May Be Gained Without The Toil Of Merit.
Ambition
Men
Toil
Every Human Being Whose Mind Is Not Debauched, Will Be Willing To Give All That He Has To Get Knowledge.
Knowledge
Giving
Mind
To Be Prejudiced Is Always To Be Weak
Weak
Nay, Sir, Those Who Write In Them, Write Well, In Order To Be Paid Well.
Writing
Order
Wells
Fear Is Implanted In Us As A Preservative From Evil But Its Duty, Like That Of Other Passions, Is Not To Overbear Reason, But To Assist It. It Should Not Be Suffered To Tyrannize In The Imagination, To Raise Phantoms Of Horror, Or To Beset Life With Supernumerary Distresses.
Passion
Evil
Imagination
There Are Certain Topicks Which Are Never Exhausted. Of Some Images And Sentiments The Mind Of Man May Be Said To Be Enamoured; It Meets Them, However Often They Occur, With The Same Ardour Which A Lover Feels At The Sight Of His Mistress, And Parts From Them With The Same Regret When They Can No Longer Be Enjoyed.
Regret
Writing
Men
The Man Who Is Asked By An Author What He Thinks Of His Work Is Put To The Torture And Is Not Obliged To Speak The Truth.
Men
Thinking
Speak
Those Whose Abilities Or Knowledge Incline Them Most To Deviate From The General Round Of Life Are Recalled From Eccentricity By The Laws Of Their Existence.
Law
Humanity
Existence
Men Have Been Wise In Many Different Modes; But They Have Always Laughed The Same Way.
Wise
Men
Different
It Is Commonly Observed, That When Two Englishmen Meet, Their First Talk Is Of The Weather; They Are In Haste To Tell Each Other, What Each Must Already Know, That It Is Hot Or Cold, Bright Or Cloudy, Windy Or Calm.
Weather
Two
Haste
The Mental Disease Of The Present Generation Is Impatience Of Study, Contempt Of The Great Masters Of Ancient Wisdom, And A Disposition To Rely Wholly Upon Unassisted Genius And Natural Sagacity.
Patience
Generations
Genius
Such Seems To Be The Disposition Of Man, That Whatever Makes A Distinction Produces Rivalry.
Men
Rivalry
Disposition
Advice Is Offensive, Not Because It Lays Us Open To Unexpected Regret, Or Convicts Us Of Any Fault Which Had Escaped Our Notice, But Because It Shows Us That We Are Known To Others As Well As To Ourselves; And The Officious Monitor Is Persecuted With Hatred, Not Because His Accusation Is False, But Because He Assumes That Superiority Which We Are Not Willing To Grant Him, And Has Dared To Detect What We Desired To Conceal.
Regret
Hatred
Advice
Wickedness Is Always Easier Than Virtue; For It Takes The Short Cut To Everything.
Cutting
Evil
Wickedness
General Irregularities Are Known In Time To Remedy Themselves. By The Constitution Of Ancient Egypt, The Priesthood Was Continually Increasing, Till At Length There Was No People Beside Themselves; The Establishment Was Then Dissolved, And The Number Of Priests Was Reduced And Limited. Thus Among Us, Writers Will, Perhaps, Be Multiplied, Till No Readers Will Be Found, And Then The Ambition Of Writing Must Necessarily Cease.
Ambition
Writing
Egypt
If We Consider The Manner In Which Those Who Assume The Office Of Directing The Conduct Of Others Execute Their Undertaking, It Will Not Be Very Wonderful That Their Labours, However Zealous Or Affectionate, Are Frequently Useless. For What Is The Advice That Is Commonly Given? A Few General Maxims, Enforced With Vehemence, And Inculcated With Importunity, But Failing For Want Of Particular Reference And Immediate Application.
Office
Advice
Vehemence
If Your Determination Is Fixed, I Do Not Counsel You To Despair. Few Things Are Impossible To Diligence And Skill. Great Works Are Performed Not By Strength, But Perseverance.
Motivational
Perseverance
Determination
To Be Of No Church Is Dangerous.
Religion
Church
Dangerous
Unconstraint Is The Grace Of Conversation.
Grace
Conversation
I Know Not Any Crime So Great That A Man Could Contrive To Commit As Poisoning The Sources Of Eternal Truth.
Men
Crime
Source
No Mind Is Much Employed Upon The Present; Recollection And Anticipation Fill Up Almost All Our Moments.
Optimism
Mind
Anticipation
Present Opportunities Are Neglected, And Attainable Good Is Slighted, By Minds Busied In Extensive Ranges And Intent Upon Future Advantages.
Opportunity
Mind
Advantage
They Whose Activity Of Imagination Is Often Shifting The Scenes Of Expectation, Are Frequently Subject To Such Sallies Of Caprice As Make All Their Actions Fortuitous, Destroy The Value Of Their Friendship, Obstruct The Efficacy Of Their Virtues, And Set Them Below The Meanest Of Those Who Persist In Their Resolutions, Execute What They Design, And Perform What They Have Promised.
Imagination
Expectations
Focus
It Is More From Carelessness About Truth Than From Intentionally Lying That There Is So Much Falsehood In The World.
Truth
Lying
World
Good Breeding Consists In Having No Particular Mark Of Any Profession, But A General Elegance Of Manners.
Elegance
Manners
Mark
More Knowledge May Be Gained Of A Man's Real Character By A Short Conversation With One Of His Servants Than From A Formal And Studied Narrative, Begun With His Pedigree And Ended With His Funeral.
Real
Knowledge
Character
Like An Image In A Dream The World Is Troubled By Love, Hatred, And Other Poisons. So Long As The Dream Lasts, The Image Appears To Be Real; But On Awaking It Vanishes.
Dream
Real
Long
Piety Practiced In Solitude, Like The Flower That Blooms In The Desert, May Give Its Fragrance To The Winds Of Heaven, And Delight Those Unbodied Spirits That Survey The Works Of God And The Actions Of Men; But It Bestows No Assistance Upon Earthly Beings, And However Free From Taints Of Impurity, Yet Wants The Sacred Splendor Of Beneficence.
Flower
Men
Wind
Pride Is Seldom Delicate, It Will Please Itself With Very Mean Advantages; And Envy Feels Not Its Own Happiness, But When It May Be Compared With The Misery Of Others
Mean
Pride
Envy
What A Strange Narrowness Of Mind Now Is That, To Think The Things We Have Not Known Are Better Than The Things We Have Known.
Thinking
Mind
Strange
I Would Consent To Have A Limb Amputated To Recover My Spirits
Spirit
Limbs
Consent
Must Helpless Man, In Ignorance Sedate, Roll Darkly Down The Torrent Of His Fate.
Ignorance
Fate
Destiny
A Tavern Chair Is The Throne Of Human Felicity.
Thrones
Taverns
Chairs
The Expense Is Damnable, The Position Is Ridiculous, And The Pleasure Fleeting.
Fleeting
Ridiculous
Pleasure
Small Debts Are Like Small Shot; They Are Rattling On Every Side, And Can Scarcely Be Escaped Without A Wound: Great Debts Are Like Cannon; Of Loud Noise, But Little Danger.
Debt
Littles
Noise
He That Pines With Hunger, Is In Little Care How Others Shall Be Fed. The Poor Man Is Seldom Studious To Make His Grandson Rich.
Men
Care
Littles
One Cause, Which Is Not Always Observed, Of The Insufficiency Of Riches, Is That They Very Seldom Make Their Owner Rich.
Riches
Causes
Wealth
Every Period Of Life Is Obliged To Borrow Its Happiness From Time To Come.
Happiness
Life Is
Periods
Leisure And Curiosity Might Soon Make Great Advances In Useful Knowledge, Were They Not Diverted By Minute Emulation And Laborious Trifles.
Knowledge
Curiosity
Might
To Expect That The Intricacies Of Science Will Be Pierced By A Careless Glance, Or The Eminences Of Fame Ascended Without Labour, Is To Expect A Peculiar Privilege, A Power Denied To The Rest Of Mankind; But To Suppose That The Maze Is Inscrutable To Diligence, Or The Heights Inaccessible To Perseverance, Is To Submit Tamely To The Tyranny Of Fancy, And Enchain The Mind In Voluntary Shackles.
Perseverance
Mind
Privilege
The True Measure Of A Man Is How He Treats Someone Who Can Do Him Absolutely No Good.
Inspirational
Success
Respect
Hope Is Necessary In Every Condition.
Hope
Anticipation
Conditions
I Am Very Fond Of The Company Of Ladies. I Like Their Beauty, I Like Their Delicacy, I Like Their Vivacity, And I Like Their Silence.
Beauty
Silence
Delicacy
By Forbearing To Do What May Innocently Be Done, We May Add Hourly New Vigor To Resolution.
Add
Vigor
Done
To Get A Name Can Happen But To Few. A Name, Even In The Most Commercial Nation, Is One Of The Few Things Which Cannot Be Bought . It Is The Free Gift Of Mankind, Which Must Be Deserved Before It Will Be Granted, And Is At Last Unwillingly Bestowed.
Free Gifts
Names
Lasts
A Man Ought To Read Just As Inclination Leads Him, For What He Reads As A Task Will Do Him Little Good.
Education
Reading
Men
Jesting, Often, Only Proves A Want Of Intellect.
Want
Intellect
Prove
Self-love Is A Busy Prompter.
Love Is
Self
Self Love
The Desire Of Advising Has A Very Extensive Prevalence; And, Since Advice Cannot Be Given But To Those That Will Hear It, A Patient Listener Is Necessary To The Accommodation Of All Those Who Desire To Be Confirmed In The Opinion Of Their Own Wisdom: A Patient Listener, However, Is Not Always To Be Had; The Present Age, Whatever Age Is Present, Is So Vitiated And Disordered, That Young People Are Readier To Talk Than To Attend, And Good Counsel Is Only Thrown Away Upon Those Who Are Full Of Their Own Perfections.
People
Perfection
Advice
I Look Upon This As I Did Upon The Dictionary: It Is All Work, And My Inducement To It Is Not Love Or Desire Of Fame, But The Want Of Money, Which Is The Only Motive To Writing That I Know Of.
Writing
Desire
Want
Excellence In Any Department Can Be Attained Only By The Labor Of A Lifetime; It Is Not To Be Purchased At A Lesser Price.
Encouragement
Hard Work
Excellence
Genius, That Power Which Constitutes A Poet; That Quality Without Which Judgment Is Cold, And Knowledge Is Inert; That Energy Which Collects, Combines, Amplifies And Animates.
Quality
Energy
Genius
People In General Do Not Willingly Read If They Have Anything Else To Amuse Them.
People
Ifs
Rash Oaths, Whether Kept Or Broken, Frequently Produce Guilt.
Broken
Guilt
Produce
Of The Present State, Whatever It Be, We Feel And Are Forced To Confess The Misery; Yet When The Same State Is Again At A Distance, Imagination Paints It As Desirable.
Distance
Imagination
Misery
Allegories Drawn To Great Length Will Always Break.
Writing
Break
Length
He Who Expects Much Will Be Often Disappointed; Yet Disappointment Seldom Cures Us Of Expectation, Or Has Any Other Effect Than That Of Producing A Moral Sentence Or Peevish Exclamation.
Disappointment
Expectations
Moral
By Taking A Second Wife He Pays The Highest Compliment To The First, By Showing That She Made Him So Happy As A Married Man, That He Wishes To Be So A Second Time.
Marriage
Men
Wife
For Who Is Pleased With Himself.
Happiness
Norway, Too, Has Noble Prospects; And Lapland Is Remarkable For Prodigious Noble Wild Prospects. But, Sir, Let Me Tell You, The Noblest Prospect Which A Scotchman Ever Sees Is The High Road That Leads Him To England!
Noble
Lapland
Norway
A Blaze First Pleases And Then Tires The Sight.
Sight
Firsts
Tire
Advice, As It Always Gives A Temporary Appearance Of Superiority, Can Never Be Very Grateful, Even When It Is Most Necessary Or Most Judicious. But For The Same Reason Everyone Is Eager To Instruct His Neighbours. To Be Wise Or To Be Virtuous Is To Buy Dignity And Importance At A High Price; But When Nothing Is Necessary To Elevation But Detection Of The Follies Or Faults Of Others, No Man Is So Insensible To The Voice Of Fame As To Linger On The Ground.
Wise
Grateful
Men
Those Writers Who Lie On The Watch For Novelty Can Have Little Hope Of Greatness; For Great Things Cannot Have Escaped Former Observation.
Lying
Greatness
Watches
He That Has Too Much To Do Will Do Something Wrong.
Too Much
Busy
Avarice Is A Uniform And Tractable Vice; Other Intellectual Distempers Are Different In Different Constitutions Of Mind. That Which Soothes The Pride Of One Will Offend The Pride Of Another, But To The Favor Of The Covetous Bring Money, And Nothing Is Denied.
Pride
Intellectual
Mind
Sir, I Have No Objection To A Man's Drinking Wine, If He Can Do It In Moderation. I Found Myself Apt To Go To Excess In It, And Therefore, After Having Been For Some Time Without It, On Account Of Illness, I Thought It Better Not To Return To It. Every Man Is To Judge For Himself, According To The Effects Which He Experiences.
Drinking
Wine
Men
None Can Be Pleased Without Praise, And Few Can Be Praised Without Falsehood.
Praise
Falsehood
Pity Is Not Natural To Man. Children Are Always Cruel. 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; For We Have Not Pity Unless We Wish To Relieve Them.
Children
Men
Compassion
Applause Abates Diligence.
Praise
Diligence
Applause
The General Remedy Of Those Who Are Uneasy Without Knowing The Cause Is Change Of Place.
Change
Knowing
Causes
Whatever Enlarges Hope Will Also Exalt Courage.
Hope
Courage
There Should Be A Stated Day For Commemorating The Birthday Of Our Savior, Because There Is Danger That What May Be Done On Any Day, Will Be Neglected.
Christmas
Done
May
A Lawyer Has No Business With The Justice Or Injustice Of The Cause Which He Undertakes, Unless His Client Asks His Opinion, And Then He Is Bound To Give It Honestly. The Justice Or Injustice Of The Cause Is To Be Decided By The Judge.
Giving
Justice
Judging
Every Man Is Of Importance To Himself, And, Therefore, In His Own Opinion, To Others; And, Supposing The World Already Acquainted With His Pleasures And His Pains, Is Perhaps The First To Publish Injuries Or Misfortunes Which Had Never Been Known Unless Related By Himself, And At Which Those That Hear Them Will Only Laugh, For No Man Sympathises With The Sorrows Of Vanity.
Pain
Writing
Men
A Man Is In General Better Pleased When He Has A Good Dinner Upon His Table, Than When His Wife Talks Greek.
Food
Men
Wife
[the Poet] Must Write As The Interpreter Of Nature And The Legislator Of Mankind, And Consider Himself As Presiding Over The Thoughts And Manners Of Future Generations, As A Being Superior To Time And Place.
Writing
Generations
Poet
To Prevent Evil Is The Great End Of Government, The End For Which Vigilance And Severity Are Properly Employed.
Government
Evil
Ends
There Is No Wisdom In Useless And Hopeless Sorrow.
Wisdom
Sorrow
Useless
You Despise A Man For Avarice; But You Do Not Hate Him.
Hate
Men
Despise
Riches Exclude Only One Inconvenience,--that Is, Poverty.
Riches
Poverty
Inconvenience
The Present Is Never A Happy State To Any Human Being.
States
Humans
Human Beings
The Necessary Connexion Of Representatives With Taxes, Seems To Have Sunk Deep Into Many Of Those Minds, That Admit Sounds, Without Their Meaning.
Mind
Sound
Taxation
No Degree Of Knowledge Attainable By Man Is Able To Set Him Above The Want Of Hourly Assistance.
Men
Want
Able
To Scatter Praise Or Blame Without Regard To Justice Is To Destroy The Distinction Of Good And Evil. Many Have No Other Test Of Actions Than General Opinion; And All Are So Far Influenced By A Sense Of Reputation That They Are Often Restrained By Fear Of Reproach, And Excited By Hope Of Honour, When Other Principles Have Lost Their Power.
Evil
Justice
Principles
As Long As One Lives He Will Have Need Of Repentance.
Long
Needs
Repentance
Stand Firm For Your Country, And Become A Man Honour'd And Lov'd: It Were A Noble Life, To Be Found Dead, Embracing Her.
Country
Men
Found Dead
Slavery Is Now Nowhere More Patiently Endured, Than In Countries Once Inhabited By The Zealots Of Liberty.
Country
Liberty
Slavery
Every Man Is Prompted By The Love Of Himself To Imagine That He Possesses Some Qualities Superior, Either In Kind Or Degree, To Those Which He Sees Allotted To The Rest Of The World.
Men
Quality
Degrees
Language Is The Dress Of Thought; And As The Noblest Mien Or Most Graceful Action Would Be Degraded And Obscured By A Garb Appropriated To The Gross Employments Of Rusticks Or Mechanics, So The Most Heroick Sentiments Will Lose Their Efficacy
Dresses
Would Be
Employment
I Would Advise You, Sir, To Study Algebra, If You Are Not An Adept Already In It: Your Head Would Get Less Muddy, And You Will Leave Off Tormenting Your Neighbours About Paper And Packthread, While We All Live Together In A World That Is Bursting With Sin And Sorrow.
Sorrow
Together
Would Be
When Any Anxiety Or Gloom Of The Mind Takes Hold Of You, Make It A Rule Not To Publish It By Complaining; But Exert Yourselves To Hide It, And By Endeavoring To Hide It You Drive It Away.
Power
Anxiety
Mind
Most Men Are Unwilling To Be Taught.
Men
Taught
Unwilling
It Requires But Little Acquaintance With The Heart To Know That Woman's First Wish Is To Be Handsome; And That, Consequently, The Readiest Method Of Obtaining Her Kindness Is To Praise Her Beauty.
Kindness
Heart
Wish
I Look Upon Every Day To Be Lost, In Which I Do Not Make A New Acquaintance.
Friendship
Positive
Looks
The Wickedness Of A Loose Or Profane Author Is More Atrocious Than That Of A Giddy Libertine Or Drunken Ravisher, Not Only Because It Extends Its Effects Wider, As A Pestilence That Taints The Air Is More Destructive Than Poison Infused In A Draught, But Because It Is Committed With Cool Deliberation.
Writing
Air
Poison
Who Left Nothing Of Authorship Untouched, And Touched Nothing Which He Did Not Adorn. [lat., Qui Nullum Fere Scribendi Genus Non Tetigit; Nullum Quod Tetigit Non Ornavit.]
Authorship
Touched
Left
Pleasure Is Very Seldom Found Where It Is Sought. Our Brightest Blazes Of Gladness Are Commonly Kindled By Unexpected Sparks. The Flowers Which Scatter Their Odours From Time To Time In The Paths Of Life, Grow Up Without Culture From Seeds Scattered By Chance.
Growing Up
Flower
Culture
1. Turn All Care Out Of Your Head As Soon As You Mount The Chaise. 2. Do Not Think About Frugality: Your Health Is Worth More Than It Can Cost. 3. Do Not Continue Any Day's Journey To Fatigue. 4. Take Now And Then A Day's Rest. 5. Get A Smart Seasickness If You Can. 6. Cast Away All Anxiety, And Keep Your Mind Easy. This Last Direction Is The Principal; With An Unquiet Mind Neither Exercise, Nor Diet, Nor Physic Can Be Of Much Use.
Smart
Exercise
Journey
Their Origin Is Commonly Unknown; For The Practice Often Continues When The Cause Has Ceased, And Concerning Superstitious Ceremonies It Is In Vain To Conjecture; For What Reason Did Not Dictate, Reason Cannot Explain.
Practice
Causes
Reason
Want Of Tenderness Is Want Of Parts, And Is No Less A Proof Of Stupidity Than Depravity.
Stupidity
Want
Proof
No Man Is Obliged To Do As Much As He Can Do. A Man Is To Have Part Of His Life To Himself.
Men
Leisure
Can Do
Hope Is An Amusement Rather Than A Good, And Adapted To None But Very Tranquil Minds.
Hope
Mind
Amusement
This World, Where Much Is To Be Done And Little To Be Known.
Done
World
Littles
Catch, Then, Oh! Catch The Transient Hour, Improve Each Moment As It Flies; Life's A Short Summer-man A Flower; He Dies-alas! How Soon He Dies!
Life
Summer
Time
Curiosity, Like All Other Desires, Produces Pain As Well As Pleasure.
Pain
Curiosity
Desire
Of Those That Spin Out Trifles And Die Without A Memorial, Many Flatter Themselves With High Opinions Of Their Own Importance, And Imagine That They Are Every Day Adding Some Improvement To Human Life.
Memorial
Opinion
Improvement
Fears Of The Brave And Follies Of The Wise.
Wise
Brave
Prodigies
Assertion Is Not Argument; To Contradict The Statement Of An Opponent Is Not Proof That You Are Correct.
Opponents
Belief
Argument
I Am Sorry I Have Not Learnt To Play At Cards. It Is Very Useful In Life: It Generates Kindness, And Consolidates Society.
Sorry
Kindness
Gambling
A Ship Is Worse Than A Gaol. There Is, In A Gaol, Better Air, Better Company, Better Conveniency Of Every Kind; And A Ship Has The Additional Disadvantage Of Of Being In Danger.
Air
Soldier
Ships
In The Description Of Night In Macbeth, The Beetle And The Bat Detract From The General Idea Of Darkness - Inspissated Gloom.
Night
Ideas
Darkness
Except During The Nine Months Before He Draws His First Breath, No Man Manages His Affairs As Well As A Tree. We Are Inclined To Believe Those Whom We Do Not Know Because They Have Never Deceived Us.
Trust
Believe
Men
To Embarrass Justice By Multiplicity Of Laws, Or To Hazard It By Confidence In Judges, Seem To Be The Opposite Rocks On Which All Civil Institutions Have Been Wrecked, And Between Which Legislative Wisdom Has Never Yet Found An Open Passage.
Rocks
Law
Opposites
The Hostility Perpetually Exercised Between One Man And Another, Is Caused By The Desire Of Many For That Which Only Few Can Possess. Every Man Would Be Rich, Powerful, And Famous; Yet Fame, Power, And Riches, Are Only The Names Of Relative Conditions, Which Imply The Obscurity, Dependence, And Poverty Of Greater Numbers.
Powerful
Men
Numbers
The Authour Who Imitates His Predecessors Only By Furnishing Himself With Thoughts And Elegances Out Of The Same General Magazine Of Literature, Can With Little More Propriety Be Reproached As A Plagiary, Than The Architect Can Be Censured As A Mean Copier Of Angelo Or Wren, Because He Digs His Marble Out Of The Same Quarry, Squares His Stones By The Same Art, And Unites Them In Columns Of The Same Orders.
Art
Mean
Writing
Grief Is A Species Of Idleness.
Grief
Sorrow
Species
It Is More Reasonable To Wish For Reputation While It May Be Enjoyed, As Anacreon Calls Upon His Companions To Give Him For Present Use The Wine And Garlands Which They Propose To Bestow Upon His Tomb.
Wine
Giving
Wish
A Merchant May, Perhaps, Be A Man Of An Enlarged Mind, But There Is Nothing In Trade Connected With An Enlarged Mind.
Men
Mind
May
A Poet, Naturalist, And Historian, Who Left Scarcely Any Style Of Writing Untouched, And Touched Nothing That He Did Not Adorn.
Writing
Style
Poet
Do Not ... Hope Wholly To Reason Away Your Troubles; Do Not Feed Them With Attention, And They Will Die Imperceptibly Away. Fix Your Thoughts Upon Your Business, Fill Your Intervals With Company, And Sunshine Will Again Break In Upon Your Mind.
Death
Hope
Sunshine
In Order That All Men Might Be Taught To Speak Truth, It Is Necessary That All Likewise Should Learn To Hear It.
Wisdom
Truth
Learning
Levellers Wish To Level Down As Far As Themselves; But They Cannot Bear Levelling Up To Themselves.
Wish
Levels
Bears
Instead Of Rating The Man By His Performances, We Rate Too Frequently The Performances By The Man.
Men
He Man
Rating
Of The Blessings Set Before You Make Your Choice, And Be Content. No Man Can Taste The Fruits Of Autumn While He Is Delighting His Scent With The Flowers Of The Spring: No Man Can, At The Same Time, Fill His Cup From The Source And From The Mouth Of The Nile.
Spring
Flower
Autumn
The Law Is The Last Result Of Human Wisdom Acting Upon Human Experience For The Benefit Of The Public.
Wisdom
Law
Acting
A Cow Is A Very Good Animal In The Field; But We Turn Her Out Of A Garden.
Animal
Garden
Cows
He That Fails In His Endeavors After Wealth Or Power Will Not Long Retain Either Honesty Or Courage.
Courage
Honesty
Work
Disease Generally Begins That Equality Which Death Completes.
Death
Equality
Disease
Your Manuscript Is Both Good And Original; But The Part That Is Good Is Not Original, And The Part That Is Original Is Not Good.
Science
Belief
Favourite
Such Is The Common Process Of Marriage. A Youth And Maiden Exchange Meeting By Chance, Or Brought Together By Artifice, Exchange Glances, Reciprocate Civilities, Go Home, And Dream Of One Another. Having Little To Divert Attention, Or Diversify Thought, They Find Themselves Uneasy When They Are Apart, And Therefore Conclude That They Shall Be Happy Together. They Marry, And Discover What Nothing But Voluntary Blindness Had Before Concealed; They Wear Out Life In Altercations, And Charge Nature With Cruelty.
Marriage
Dream
Home
To Mean Understandings, It Is Sufficient Honour To Be Numbered Amongst The Lowest Labourers Of Learning; But Different Abilities Must Find Different Tasks. To Hew Stone, Would Have Been Unworthy Of Palladio; And To Have Rambled In Search Of Shells And Flowers, Had But Ill Suited With The Capacity Of Newton.
Flower
Mean
Science
They Who Have Already Enjoyed The Crowds And Noise Of The Great City, Know Their Desire To Return Is Little More Than The Restlessness Of A Vacant Mind, That They Are Not So Much Led By Hope As Driven By Disgust, And Wish Rather To Leave The Country Than To See The Town.
Country
Cities
Mind
To Go And See One Druidical Temple Is Only To See That It Is Nothing, For There Is Neither Art Nor Power In It; And Seeing One Is Quite Enough.
Art
Temples
Enough
Genius Now And Then Produces A Lucky Trifle. We Still Read The Dove Of Anacreon, And Sparrow Of Catullus; And A Writer Naturally Pleases Himself With A Performance Which Owes Nothing To The Subject.
Lucky
Genius
Sparrows
Wasting A Fortune Is Evaporation By A Thousand Imperceptible Means.
Mean
Waste
Evaporation
No Man Is Without Some Quality, By The Due Application Of Which He Might Deserve Well Of The World; And Whoever He Be That Has But Little In His Power Should Be In Haste To Do That Little, Lest He Be Confounded With Him That Can Do Nothing.
Men
Quality
World
Friendship, Compounded Of Esteem And Love, Derives From One Its Tenderness And Its Permanence From The Other.
Lost Friendship
And Love
Esteem
The Cure For The Greatest Part Of Human Miseries Is Not Radical, But Palliative.
Misery
Cures
Radical
When A Friend Is Carried To His Grave, We At Once Find Excuses For Every Weakness, And Palliation Of Every Fault. We Recollect A Thousand Endearments, Which Before Glided Off Our Minds Without Impression, A Thousand Favors Unrepaid, A Thousand Duties Unperformed; And Wish, Vainly Wish, For His Return, Not So Much That We May Receive As That We May Bestow Happiness, And Recompense That Kindness Which Before We Never Understood.
Death
Kindness
Mind
Extended Empires Are Like Expanded Gold, Exchanging Solid Strength For Feeble Splendor.
Focus
Gold
Empires
Gratitude Is A Species Of Justice.
Gratitude
Justice
Species
The Highest Panegyric, Therefore, That Private Virtue Can Receive, Is The Praise Of Servants.
Praise
Virtue
Servant
I Believe It Will Be Found That Those Who Marry Late Are Best Pleased With Their Children; And Those Who Marry Early, With Their Partners.
Children
Believe
Wedlock
Politeness Is Fictitious Benevolence.
Manners
Politeness
Benevolence
Sir, What Is Poetry? Why, Sir, It Is Much Easier To Say What It Is Not. We All Know What Light Is; But It Is Not Easy To Tell What It Is.
Light
Poetry
Easy
Men Who Could Willingly Resign The Luxuries And Sensual Pleasures Of A Large Fortune Cannot Consent To Live Without The Grandeur And The Homage.
Men
Luxury
Sensual
A Simile, To Be Perfect, Must Both Illustrate And Ennoble The Subject; Must Show It To The Understanding In A Clearer View, And Display It To The Fancy With Greater Dignity; But Either Of These Qualities May Be Sufficient To Recommend It.... That It May Be Complete, It Is Required To Exhibit, Independently Of Its References, A Pleasing Image; For A Simile Is Said To Be A Short Episode.
Views
Perfect
Understanding
Waste Cannot Be Accurately Told, Though We Are Sensible How Destructive It Is. Economy, On The One Hand, By Which A Certain Income Is Made To Maintain A Man Genteelly; And Waste, On The Other, By Which On The Same Income Another Man Lives Shabbily, Cannot Be Defined. It Is A Very Nice Thing; As One Man Wears His Coat Out Much Sooner Than Another, We Cannot Tell How.
Nice
Men
Hands
All To Whom Want Is Terrible, Upon Whatever Principle, Ought To Think Themselves Obliged To Learn The Sage Maxims Of Our Parsimonious Ancestors, And Attain The Salutary Arts Of Contracting Expense; For Without Economy None Can Be Rich, And With It Few Can Be Poor.
Art
Thinking
Principles
No One Is Much Pleased With A Companion Who Does Not Increase, In Some Respect, Their Fondness For Themselves.
Respect
Doe
Increase
You Can Never Be Wise Unless You Love Reading.
Wise
Reading
Being Wise
When A Man Is Tired Of London, He Is Tired Of Life; For There Is In London All That Life Can Afford.
Life
Tired
Men
The Coquette Has Companions, Indeed, But No Lovers,--for Love Is Respectful And Timorous; And Where Among Her Followers Will She Find A Husband?
Husband
Love Is
Coquette
Repentance, However Difficult To Be Practiced, Is, If It Be Explained Without Superstition, Easily Understood. Repentance Is The Relinquishment Of Any Practice From The Conviction That It Has Offended God.
Practice
Superstitions
Conviction
Fear Naturally Quickens The Flight Of Guilt.
Fear
Guilt
Flight
Bravery Has No Place Where It Can Avail Nothing.
Courage
Bravery
Be Brave
We Are All Prompted By The Same Motives, All Deceived By The Same Fallacies, All Animated By Hope, Obstructed By Danger, Entangled By Desire, And Seduced By Pleasure.
Humanity
Desire
Pleasure
...it Will Not Always Happen That The Success Of A Poet Is Proportionate To His Labor.
Writing
Poet
Labor
Oats. A Grain, Which In England Is Generally Given To Horses, But In Scotland Supports The People.
Horse
Food
Oats
Men Seldom Give Pleasure When They Are Not Pleased Themselves.
Men
Giving
Pleasure
No Knowledge Is Useless, With The Exception Of Heraldry.
Useless
Exception
He That Will Enjoy The Brightness Of Sunshine, Must Quit The Coolness Of The Shade.
Sunshine
Shade
Brightness
To Have The Management Of The Mind Is A Great Art, And It May Be Attained In A Considerable Degree By Experience And Habitual Exercise... Let Him Take A Course Of Chemistry, Or A Course Of Rope-dance, Or A Course Of Any Thing To Which He Is Inclined At The Time. Let Him Contrive To Have As Many Retreats For His Mind As He Can, As Many Things To Which It Can Fly From Itself.
Happiness
Art
Exercise
They Who Look But Little Into Futurity, Have, Perhaps, The Quickest Sensation Of The Present.
Future
Looks
Littles
Piety Is The Only Proper And Adequate Relief Of Decaying Man. He That Grows Old Without Religions Hopes, As He Declines Into Imbecility, And Feels Pains And Sorrows Incessantly Crowding Upon Him, Falls Into A Gulf Of Bottomless Misery, In Which Every Reflection Must Plunge Him Deeper And Deeper.
Pain
Fall
Men
If A Man Has A Science To Learn He Must Regularly And Resolutely Advance.
Science
Men
Accounts
Among Those Whose Reputation Is Exhausted In A Short Time By Its Own Luxuriance Are The Writers Who Take Advantage Of Present Incidents Or Characters Which Strongly Interest The Passions, And Engage Universal Attention. It Is Not Difficult To Obtain Readers, When We Discuss A Question Which Every One Is Desirous To Understand, Which Is Debated In Every Assembly, And Has Divided The Nation Into Parties; Or When We Display The Faults Or Virtues Of Him Whose Public Conduct Has Made Almost Every Man His Enemy Or His Friend.
Party
Reading
Passion
Those Who Are In The Power Of Evil Habits Must Conquer Them As They Can; And Conquered They Must Be, Or Neither Wisdom Nor Happiness Can Be Attained: But Those Who Are Not Yet Subject To Their Influence May, By Timely Caution, Preserve Their Freedom.
Evil
May
Influence
The Applause Of A Single Human Being Is Of Great Consequence.
Appreciation
Appreciate
Approval
Never Speak Of A Man In His Own Presence. It Is Always Indelicate, And May Be Offensive .
Men
May
Offensive
Celestial Wisdom Calms The Mind.
Mind
Calm
Celestial
He Endearing Elegance Of Female Friendship.
Friendship
Female
Elegance
Never Trust Your Tongue When Your Heart Is Bitter.
Trust
Heart
Tongue
I Have Two Very Cogent Reasons For Not Printing Any List Of Subscribers; One, That I Have Lost All The Names, The Other, That I Have Spent All The Money.
Names
Two
Lists
Let Us Be Quick To Repent Of Injuries While Repentance May Not Be A Barren Anguish.
May
Injury
Repentance
Hope Is Necessary In Every Condition. The Miseries Of Poverty, Sickness And Captivity Would, Without This Comfort, Be Insupportable.
Hope
Comfort
Captivity
That There Is Something In Advice Very Useful And Salutary, Seems To Be Equally Confessed On All Hands; Since Even Those That Reject It, Allow For The Most Part That Rejection To Be Wrong, But Charge The Fault Upon The Unskilful Manner In Which It Is Given; They Admit The Efficacy Of The Medicine, But Abhor The Nauseousness Of The Vehicle.
Hands
Medicine
Rejection
To Do Nothing Is In Everyone's Power.
Power
Progress
Originality
More Is Learned In A Public Than In A Private School, From Emulation. There Is The Collision Of Mind With Mind, Or The Radiation Of Many Minds Pointing To One Center.
School
Mind
Radiation
In Youth, It Is Common To Measure Right And Wrong By The Opinion Of The World, And In Age, To Act Without Any Measure But Interest, And To Lose Shame Without Substituting Virtue.
Age
World
Opinion
I Never Desire To Converse With A Man Who Has Written More Than He Has Read.
Reading
Men
Political
The Resolution Of The Combat Is Seldom Equal To The Vehemence Of The Charge.
Vehemence
Resolution
Combat
Liberty Is The Parent Of Truth, But Truth And Decency Are Sometimes At Variance. All Men And All Propositions Are To Be Treated Here As They Deserve, And There Are Many Who Have No Claim Either To Respect Or Decency.
Truth
Men
Parent
The Business Of Life Is To Go Forward; He Who Sees Evil In Prospect Meets It In His Way, And He Who Catches It By Retrospection Turns Back To Find It. That Which Is Feared May Sometimes Be Avoided, But That Which Is Regretted To-day May Be Regretted Again To-morrow.
Regret
Evil
May
No Man Can Taste The Fruits Of Autumn While He Is Delighting His Scent With The Flowers Of Spring.
Appreciation
Spring
Flower
It Is Certain That Success Naturally Confirms In Us A Favourable Opinion Of Our Own Abilities. Scarce Any Man Is Willing To Allot To Accident, Friendship, And A Thousand Causes, Which Concur In Every Event Without Human Contrivance Or Interposition, The Part Which They May Justly Claim In His Advancement. We Rate Ourselves By Our Fortune Rather Than Our Virtues, And Exorbitant Claims Are Quickly Produced By Imaginary Merit.
Men
Events
May
The Maxim Of Cleobulus, "mediocrity Is Best," Has Been Long Considered A Universal Principle, Extending Through The Whole Compass Of Life And Nature. The Experience Of Every Age Seems To Have Given It New Confirmation, And To Show That Nothing, However Specious Or Alluring, Is Pursued With Propriety Or Enjoyed With Safety Beyond Certain Limits.
Safety
Long
Age
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