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You Need A Good Editor Because Every Writer Thinks He Can Write A War And Peace, But By The Time He Gets It On Paper, It's Not War And Peace Anymore; It's Comic-book Stuff. 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.
-Samuel Johnson
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You Need A Good

Samuel Johnson
You Need A Good Editor Because Every Writer Thinks He Can Write A War And Peace, But By The Time He Gets It On Paper, It's Not War And Peace Anymore; It's Comic-book Stuff. 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.
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War
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He Is No Wise Man Who Will Quit A Certainty For An Uncertainty.
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Wisdom
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Sir, He Throws Away His Money Without Thought And Without Merit. I Do Not Call A Tree Generous That Sheds Its Fruit At Every Breeze.
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Other Things May Be Seized By Might, Or Purchased With Money, But Knowledge Is To Be Gained Only By Study, And Study To Be Prosecuted Only In Retirement.
Retirement
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Don't Tell Me Of Deception; A Lie Is A Lie, Whether It Be A Lie To The Eye Or A Lie To The Ear.
Lying
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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
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If An Author Be Supposed To Involve His Thoughts In Voluntary Obscurity, And To Obstruct, By Unnecessary Difficulties, A Mind Eager In The Pursuit Of Truth; If He Writes Not To Make Others Learned, But To Boast The Learning Which He Possesses Himself, And Wishes To Be Admired Rather Than Understood, He Counteracts The First End Of Writing, And Justly Suffers The Utmost Severity Of Censure, Or The More Afflicting Severity Of Neglect.
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A Minute Analysis Of Life At Once Destroys That Splendor Which Dazzles The Imagination. Whatsoever Grandeur Can Display, Or Luxury Enjoy, Is Procured By Offices Of Which The Mind Shrinks From The Contemplation. All The Delicacies Of The Table May Be Traced Back To The Shambles And The Dunghill; All Magnificence Of Building Was Hewn From The Quarry, And All The Pomp Of Ornament Dug From Among The Damps And Darkness Of The Mine.
Life
Luxury
Imagination
Those Who Have Past Much Of Their Lives In This Great City, Look Upon Its Opulence And Its Multitudes, Its Extent And Variety, With Cold Indifference; But An Inhabitant Of The Remoter Parts Of The Kingdom Is Immediately Distinguished By A Kind Of Dissipated Curiosity, A Busy Endeavour To Divide His Attention Amongst A Thousand Objects, And A Wild Confusion Of Astonishment And Alarm.
Past
Cities
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Surely, It Is Much Easier To Respect A Man Who Has Always Had Respect, Than To Respect A Man Who We Know Was Last Year No Better Than Ourselves, And Will Be No Better Next Year.
Men
Years
Next Year
It Is Not Often That Any Man Can Have So Much Knowledge Of Another, As Is Necessary To Make Instruction Useful.
Men
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Instruction
A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing - It Only Hastens Fools To Rush In Where Angels Fear To Tread.
Angel
Littles
Fool
Love Has No Great Influences Upon The Sum Of Life.
Love
Love Life
Influence
While Grief Is Fresh, Every Attempt To Divert Only Irritates. You Must Wait Till It Be Digested, And Then Amusement Will Dissipate The Remains Of It.
Broken Heart
Heartbreak
Heartbroken
A Patriot Is He Whose Public Conduct Is Regulated By One Single Motive, The Love Of His Country; Who, As An Agent In Parliament, Has, For Himself, Neither Hope Nor Fear, Neither Kindness Nor Resentment, But Refers Every Thing To The Common Interest
Country
Kindness
Patriotism
Flattery Pleases Very Generally. In The First Place, The Flatterer May Think What He Says To Be True; But, In The Second Place, Whether He Thinks So Or Not, He Certainly Thinks Those Whom He Flatters Of Consequence Enough To Be Flattered.
Thinking
May
Firsts
Quotation Is A Good Thing, There Is A Community Of Thought In It.
Community
Good Things
Quotations
Music Is The Only Sensual Pleasure Without Vice.
Musical
Sensual
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The Inevitable Consequence Of Poverty Is Dependence.
Wisdom
Politics
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Friendship, Peculiar Boon Of Heaven, The Noble Mind's Delight And Pride, To Men And Angels Only Given, To All The Lower World Denied.
Angel
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Men
I Do Not See, Sir, That It Is Reasonable For A Man To Be Angry At Another, Whom A Woman Has Preferred To Him; But Angry He Is, No Doubt; And He Is Loath To Be Angry At Himself.
Science
Men
Doubt
Human Life Is Everywhere A State In Which Much Is To Be Endured, And Little To Be Enjoyed.
Life
Littles
States
Whatever Is Formed For Long Duration Arrives Slowly To Its Maturity.
Maturity
Long
Grandparent
Want Of Tenderness Is Want Of Parts, And Is No Less A Proof Of Stupidity Than Depravity.
Stupidity
Want
Proof
Learn That The Present Hour Alone Is Man's.
Life
Learning
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
An Old Friend Never Can Be Found, And Nature Has Provided That He Cannot Easily Be Lost.
Friends
Lost Friend
Found
Marriage Is The Strictest Tie Of Perpetual Friendship, And There Can Be No Friendship Without Confidence, And No Confidence Without Integrity; And He Must Expect To Be Wretched, Who Pays To Beauty, Riches, Or Politeness That Regard Which Only Virtue And Piety Can Claim.
Marriage
Integrity
Ties
No Man Can Have Much Kindness For Him By Whom He Does Not Believe Himself Esteemed, And Nothing So Evidently Proves Esteem As Imitation.
Kindness
Self Esteem
Believe
There Is Scarcely Any Writer Who Has Not Celebrated The Happiness Of Rural Privacy, And Delighted Himself And His Reader With The Melody Of Birds, The Whisper Of Groves, And The Murmur Of Rivulets.
Writing
Bird
Privacy
Yet It Is Necessary To Hope, Though Hope Should Always Be Deluded, For Hope Itself Is Happiness, And Its Frustrations, However Frequent, Are Yet Less Dreadful Than Its Extinction.
Hope
Frustration
Extinction
The Heroes Of Literary History Have Been No Less Remarkable For What They Have Suffered Than For What They Have Achieved.
Hero
Remarkable
Has Beens
It Is Indeed Certain, That Whoever Attempts Any Common Topick, Will Find Unexpected Coincidences Of His Thoughts With Those Of Other Writers; Nor Can The Nicest Judgment Always Distinguish Accidental Similitude From Artful Imitation.
Writing
Unexpected
Common
By Writing, You Learn To Write.
Writing
He That Is Warm For Truth, And Fearless In Its Defense, Performs One Of The Duties Of A Good Man; He Strenghtens His Own Conviction, And Guards Others From Delusion; But Steadiness Of Belief, And Boldness Of Profession, Are Yet Only Part Of The Form Of Godliness.
Men
Fearless
Good Man
Hope Is Necessary In Every Condition. The Miseries Of Poverty, Of Sickness, Or Captivity, Would, Without This Comfort, Be Insupportable; Nor Does It Appear That The Happiest Lot Of Terrestrial Existence Can Set Us Above The Want Of This General Blessing; Or That Life, When The Gifts Of Nature And Of Fortune Are Accumulated Upon It, Would Not Still Be Wretched, Were It Not Elevated And Delighted By The Expectation Of Some New Possession, Of Some Enjoyment Yet Behind, By Which The Wish Shall At Last Be Satisfied, And The Heart Filled Up To Its Utmost Extent.
Heart
Blessing
Filled Up
Sir, You Must Not Neglect Doing A Thing Immediately Good From Fear Of Remote Evil; - From Fear Of Its Being Abused.
Happiness
Evil
Neglect
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
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
Books Have Always A Secret Influence On The Understanding.
Book
Understanding
Secret
Sir, I Did Not Count Your Glasses Of Wine, Why Should You Number Up My Cups Of Tea?
Wine
Glasses
Numbers
A Transition From An Author's Book To His Conversation, Is Too Often Like An Entrance Into A Large City.
Book
Cities
Transition
Faults And Defects Every Work Of Man Must Have.
Men
Humanity
Faults
It Matters Not How A Man Dies, But How He Lives. The Act Of Dying Is Not Of Importance, It Lasts So Short A Time.
Death
Time
Men
I Am A Friend To Subordination, As Most Conducive To The Happiness Of Society. There Is A Reciprocal Pleasure In Governing And Being Governed.
Pleasure
Subordination
Reciprocal
It Is Much Easier Not To Write Like A Man Than To Write Like A Woman.
Writing
Men
Easier
Hope Is Necessary In Every Condition. The Miseries Of Poverty, Sickness And Captivity Would, Without This Comfort, Be Insupportable.
Hope
Comfort
Captivity
A Man, Doubtful Of His Dinner, Or Trembling At A Creditor, Is Not Much Disposed To Abstracted Meditation, Or Remote Enquiries.
Food
Men
Meditation
Happiness," Said He, "must Be Something Solid And Permanent, Without Fear And Without Uncertainty.
Said
Permanent
Uncertainty
Domestic Discord Is Not Inevitably And Fatally Necessary; But Yet It Is Not Easy To Avoid.
Easy
Discord
The True Effect Of Genuine Politeness Seems To Be Rather Ease Than Pleasure.
Ease
Pleasure
Genuine
Ignorance, Madam, Pure Ignorance.
Ignorance
Pure
Where Necessity Ends, Desire And Curiosity Begin; And No Sooner Are We Supplied With Everything Nature Can Demand Than We Sit Down To Contrive Artificial Appetites.
Curiosity
Desire
Demand
That Observation Which Is Called Knowledge Of The World Will Be Found Much More Frequently To Make Men Cunning Than Good.
Men
World
Found
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
Hypocrisy Is The Necessary Burden Of Villainy, Affectation Part Of The Chosen Trappings Of Folly; The One Completes A Villain, The Other Only Finishes A Fop.
Hypocrisy
Villain
Burden
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
There Is No Observation More Frequently Made By Such As Employ Themselves In Surveying The Conduct Of Mankind, Than That Marriage, Though The Dictate Of Nature, And The Institution Of Providence, Is Yet Very Often The Cause Of Misery, And That Those Who Enter Into That State Can Seldom Forbear To Express Their Repentance, And Their Envy Of Those Whom Either Chance Or Caution Hath Withheld From It.
Envy
Causes
Chance
It Is Astonishing That Any Man Can Forbear Enquiring Seriously Whether There Is A God; Whether God Is Just; Whether This Life Is The Only State Of Existence.
Men
Life Is
States
The Morality Of An Action Depends On The Motive From Which We Act. If I Fling Half A Crown To A Beggar With Intention To Break His Head And He Picks It Up And Buy Victuals With It, The Physical Effect Is Good. But With Respect To Me The Action Is Very Wrong.
Crowns
Half
Morality
We Seldom Learn The True Want Of What We Have Till It Is Discovered That We Can Have No More.
Happiness
Want
Lexicographer: A Writer Of Dictionaries, A Harmless Drudge, That Busies Himself In Tracing The Original, And Detailing The Signification Of Words.
Lexicographer
Literature
Dictionary
What Is Read Twice Is Usually Remembered More Than What Is Once Written.
Memories
Remembered
Written
Among The Innumerable Mortifications Which Waylay Human Arrogance On Every Side May Well Be Reckoned Our Ignorance Of The Most Common Objects And Effects, A Defect Of Which We Become More Sensible By Every Attempt To Supply It. Vulgar And Inactive Minds Confound Familiarity With Knowledge And Conceive Themselves Informed Of The Whole Nature Of Things When They Are Shown Their Form Or Told Their Use; But The Speculatist, Who Is Not Content With Superficial Views, Harasses Himself With Fruitless Curiosity, And Still, As He Inquires More, Perceives Only That He Knows Less.
Education
Peace
Truth
Friendship, Compounded Of Esteem And Love, Derives From One Its Tenderness And Its Permanence From The Other.
Lost Friendship
And Love
Esteem
No Money Is Better Spent Than What Is Laid Out For Domestic Satisfaction.
Money
Home
House
Luxury, So Far As It Reaches The People, Will Do Good To The Race Of People; It Will Strengthen And Multiply Them. Sir, No Nation Was Ever Hurt By Luxury; For, As I Said Before; It Can Reach But A Very Few.
Hurt
Race
Luxury
Those Authors Who Would Find Many Readers, Must Endeavour To Please While They Instruct.
Writing
Endeavour
Reader
Life, To Be Worthy Of A Rational Being, Must Be Always In Progression; We Must Always Purpose To Do More Or Better Than In Time Past.
Past
Purpose
Progression
The World Will Never Be Long Without Some Good Reason To Hate The Unhappy; Their Real Faults Are Immediately Detected; And If Those Are Not Sufficient To Sink Them Into Infamy, An Individual Weight Of Calumny Will Be Super-added.
Happiness
Hate
Real
No Evil Is Insupportable But That Which Is Accompanied With Consciousness Of Wrong.
Evil
Consciousness
He That Shall Peruse The Political Pamphlets Of Any Past Reign Will Wonder Why They Were So Eagerly Read, Or So Loudly Praised.
Past
Political
Politics
Human Reason Borrowed Many Arts From The Instinct Of Animals.
Art
Animal
Reason
Everybody Loves To Have Things Which Please The Palate Put In Their Way, Without Trouble Or Preparation.
Food
Cooking
Preparation
The Most Fatal Disease Of Friendship Is Gradual Decay, Or Dislike Hourly Increased By Causes Too Slender For Complaint, And Too Numerous For Removal.
Funny
Friendship
Humor
Cucumber Should Be Well Sliced, Dressed With Pepper And Vinegar, And Then Thrown Out.
Food
Cucumbers
Vinegar
This World, Where Much Is To Be Done And Little To Be Known.
Done
World
Littles
For Life Affords No Higher Pleasure, Than That Of Surmounting Difficulties, Passing From One Step Of Success To Another, Forming New Wishes And Seeing Them Gratified. He That Labours In Any Great Or Laudable Undertaking, Has His Fatigues First Supported By Hope, And Afterwards Rewarded By Joy... To Strive With Difficulties, And To Conquer Them, Is The Highest Human Felicity.
Motivational
Joy
Wish
No Man Was Ever Great By Imitation.
Men
Imitation
Always, Sir, Set A High Value On Spontaneous Kindness.
Kindness
Spontaneous
Values
Ah! Sir, A Boy's Being Flogged Is Not So Severe As A Man's Having The Hiss Of The World Against Him.
Boys
Men
Public Opinion
What Provokes Your Risibility, Sir? Have I Said Anything That You Understand? Then I Ask Pardon Of The Rest Of The Company.
Laughter
Pardon
Said
Cunning Differs From Wisdom As Twilight From Open Day.
Twilight
Cunning
Pain Is Less Subject Than Pleasure To Careless Expression.
Pain
Expression
Pleasure
Nothing Has So Exposed Men Of Learning To Contempt And Ridicule As Their Ignorance Of Things Which Are Known To All But Themselves. Those Who Have Been Taught To Consider The Institutions Of The Schools As Giving The Last Perfection To Human Abilities Are Surprised To See Men Wrinkled With Study, Yet Wanting To Be Instructed In The Minute Circumstances Of Propriety, Or The Necessary Form Of Daily Transaction; And Quickly Shake Off Their Reverence For Modes Of Education Which They Find To Produce No Ability Above The Rest Of Mankind.
School
Ignorance
Men
In Matters Of Business, No Woman Stops At Integrity.
Integrity
Women
Matter
Truth, Sir, Is A Cow Which Will Yield Such People No More Milk, And So They Are Gone To Milk The Bull.
Truth
Yield
People
I Am Always For Getting A Boy Forward In His Learning, For That Is Sure Good. I Would Let Him At First Read Any English Book Which Happens To Engage His Attention; Because You Have Done A Great Deal When You Have Brought Him To Have Entertainment From A Book. He'll Get Better Books Afterwards.
Education
Book
Boys
It Is Very Common For Us To Desire Most What We Are Least Qualified To Obtain.
Desire
Common
Qualified
The Finest Landscape In The World Is Improved By A Good Inn In The Foreground.
World
Landscape
Finest
Riches Seldom Make Their Owners Rich.
Riches
Wealth
Rich
The Civilities Of The Great Are Never Thrown Away.
Political
Campaigns
Civility
In A Man's Letters You Know, Madam, His Soul Lies Naked, His Letters Are Only The Mirror Of His Breast, Whatever Passes Within Him Is Shown Undisguised In Its Natural Process. Nothing Is Inverted, Nothing Distorted, You See Systems In Their Elements, You Discover Actions In Their Motives.
Lying
Men
Mirrors
It Is Not From Reason And Prudence That People Marry, But From Inclination.
Marriage
Wedding
People
Every Human Being Whose Mind Is Not Debauched, Will Be Willing To Give All That He Has To Get Knowledge.
Knowledge
Giving
Mind
Poverty Is Often Concealed In Splendor, And Often In Extravagance. It Is The Task Of Many People To Conceal Their Neediness From Others. Consequently They Support Themselves By Temporary Means, And Everyday Is Lost In Contriving For Tomorrow.
Mean
People
Support
If The Abuse Be Enormous, Nature Will Rise Up, And Claiming Her Original Rights, Overturn A Corrupt Political System.
Rights
Political
Abuse
Friendship, Like Love, Is Destroyed By Long Absence, Though It May Be Increased By Short Intermissions. What We Have Missed Long Enough To Want It, We Value More When It Is Regained; But That Which Has Been Lost Till It Is Forgotten Will Be Found At Last With Little Gladness, And With Still Less If A Substitute Has Supplied The Place.
Friendship
Love Is
Like Love
Patriotism Is The Last Refuge Of The Scoundrel.
Patriotic
Patriotism
Lasts
Exert Your Talents, And Distinguish Yourself, And Don't Think Of Retiring From The World, Until The World Will Be Sorry That You Retire.
Inspirational
Strength
Retirement
All Argument Is Against It; But All Belief Is For It.
Atheism
Belief
Argument
These Papers Of The Day Have Uses More Adequate To The Purposes Of Common Life Than More Pompous And Durable Volumes.
Purpose
Use
Paper
I Love The Acquaintance Of Young People; Because, In The First Place, I Do Not Like To Think Myself Growing Old. In The Next Place, Young Acquaintances Must Last Longest, If They Do Last; And Then, Sir, Young Men Have More Virtue Than Old Men; They Have More Generous Sentiments In Every Respect.
Men
Thinking
People
Whoever Desires, For His Writings Or Himself, What None Can Reasonably Contemn, The Favour Of Mankind, Must Add Grace To Strength, And Make His Thoughts Agreeable As Well As Useful. Many Complain Of Neglect Who Never Tried To Attract Regard.
Writing
Grace
Desire
The Man Who Feels Himself Ignorant Should, At Least, Be Modest.
Ignorance
Men
Ignorant
No Man But A Blockhead Ever Wrote Except For Money.
Art
Money
Work
It Is Thus That Mutual Cowardice Keeps Us In Peace. Were One Half Of Mankind Brave And One Cowards, The Brave Would Be Always Beating The Cowards. Were All Brave, They Would Lead A Very Uneasy Life; All Would Be Continually Fighting; But Being All Cowards, We Go On Very Well.
Fighting
Brave
Coward
It Is A Hopeless Endeavour To Unite The Contrarieties Of Spring And Winter; It Is Unjust To Claim The Privileges Of Age, And Retain The Play-things Of Childhood.
Spring
Winter
Play
In My Early Years I Read Very Hard. It Is A Sad Reflection, But A True One, That I Knew Almost As Much At Eighteen As I Do Now.
Book
Reflection
Years
To Dread No Eye And To Suspect No Tongue Is The Great Prerogative Of Innocence--an Exemption Granted Only To Invariable Virtue.
Eye
Tongue
Innocence
Curiosity Is, In Great And Generous Minds, The First Passion And The Last; And Perhaps Always Predominates In Proportion To The Strength Of The Contemplative Faculties. He Who Easily Comprehends All That Is Before Him, And Soon Exhausts Any Single Subject, Is Always Eager For New Inquiries; And In Proportion As The Intellectual Eye Takes In A Wider Prospect, It Must Be Gratified With Variety, By More Rapid Flights And Bolder Excursions.
Passion
Eye
Intellectual
Sorrow Is A Kind Of Rust Of The Soul, Which Every New Idea Contributes In Its Passage To Scour Away. It Is The Putrefaction Of Stagnant Life, And Is Remedied By Exercise And Motion.
Exercise
Ideas
Soul
To Make Dictionaries Is Dull Work.
Dull
Dictionary
A Man May Be Very Sincere In Good Principles, Without Having Good Practice.
Truth
Honesty
Men
It Seems To Be Remarkable That Death Increases Our Veneration For The Good, And Extenuates Our Hatred For The Bad.
Death
Hatred
Increase
Fears Of The Brave And Follies Of The Wise.
Wise
Brave
Prodigies
I Would Consent To Have A Limb Amputated To Recover My Spirits
Spirit
Limbs
Consent
Courtesy And Good-humour Are Often Found With Little Real Worth.
Real
Littles
Courtesy
Every Man Prefers Virtue, When There Is Not Some Strong Incitement To Transgress Its Precepts.
Strong
Men
Virtue
No Government Power Can Be Abused Long. Mankind Will Not Bear It.... There Is A Remedy In Human Nature Against Tyranny, That Will Keep Us Safe Under Every Form Of Government.
Power
Government
Long
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
I Advised Chambers, And Would Advise Every Young Man Beginning To Compose, To Do It As Fast As He Can, To Get A Habit Of Having His Mind To Start Promptly; It Is So Much More Difficult To Improve In Speed Than In Accuracy.
Writing
Men
Mind
For Gold The Hireling Judge Distorts The Laws.
Law
Judging
Gold
The Future Is Bought With The Present.
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
Wine Gives A Man Nothing. It Neither Gives Him Knowledge Nor Wit; It Only Animates A Man, And Enables Him To Bring Out What A Dread Of The Company Has Repressed. It Only Puts In Motion What Had Been Locked Up In Frost.
Drinking
Food
Wine
Pity Is Not Natural To Man. Children Always Are Cruel. Savages Are Always Cruel.
Children
Men
Savages
The Majority Have No Other Reason For Their Opinions Than That They Are The Fashion.
Fashion
Freedom
Majority
To Live Without Feeling Or Exciting Sympathy, To Be Fortunate Without Adding To The Felicity Of Others, Or Afflicted Without Tasting The Balm Of Pity, Is A State More Gloomy Than Solitude; It Is Not Retreat, But Exclusion From Mankind. Marriage Has Many Pains, But Celibacy Has No Pleasures.
Pain
Solitude
Feelings
If We Estimate Dignity By Immediate Usefulness, Agriculture Is Undoubtedly The First And Noblest Science.
Agriculture
Firsts
Dignity
All Envy Is Proportionate To Desire; We Are Uneasy At The Attainments Of Another, According As We Think Our Own Happiness Would Be Advanced By The Addition Of That Which He Withholds From Us.
Thinking
Envy
Desire
My Dear Friend, Clear Your Mind Of Can't.
Mind
Complacency
Dear Friend
It Is No Matter What You Teach Them First, Any More Than What Leg You Shall Put Into Your Breeches First. You May Stand Disputing Which Is Best To Put In First, But In The Mean Time Your Breech Is Bare. Sir, While You Are Considering Which Of Two Things You Should Teach Your Child First, Another Boy Has Learned Them Both.
Education
Children
Mean
Is Not A Patron, My Lord, One Who Looks With Unconcern On A Man Struggling For Life In The Water, And When He Has Reached Ground Encumbers Him With Help? The Notice Which You Have Been Pleased To Take Care Of My Labors, Had It Been Early, Had Been Kind; But It Has Been Delayed Till I Am Indifferent, And Cannot Enjoy It; Till I Am Solitary, And Cannot Impart It; Till I Am Known, And Do Not Want It.
Life
Struggle
Men
That All Who Are Happy Are Equally Happy Is Not True. A Peasant And A Philosopher May Be Equally Satisfied, But Not Equally Happy. A Small Drinking Glass And A Large One May Be Equally Full, But The Large One Holds More Than The Small.
Happiness
Drinking
Insperational
Sir, A Man Who Cannot Get To Heaven In A Green Coat, Will Not Find His Way Thither The Sooner In A Grey One.
Fashion
Men
Heaven
Every Man Is, Or Hopes To Be, An Idler.
Men
Idlers
Every Man
There Is A Frightful Interval Between The Seed And The Timber.
Progress
Timber
Seeds
It Is Not Uncommon To Charge The Difference Between Promise And Performance, Between Profession And Reality, Upon Deep Design And Studied Deceit; But The Truth Is, That There Is Very Little Hypocrisy In The World.
Reality
Differences
Hypocrisy
A Continual Feast Of Commendation Is Only To Be Obtained By Merit Or By Wealth: Many Are Therefore Obliged To Content Themselves With Single Morsels, And Recompense The Infrequency Of Their Enjoyment By Excess And Riot, Whenever Fortune Sets The Banquet Before Them.
Excess
Merit
Wealth
The Usual Fortune Of Complaint Is To Excite Contempt More Than Pity.
Usual
Complaining
Pity
A Wise Man Will Make Haste To Forgive, Because He Knows The True Value Of Time, And Will Not Suffer It To Pass Away In Unnecessary Pain.
Family
Forgiveness
Wise
For Sorrow There Is No Remedy Provided By Nature; It Is Often Occasioned By Accidents Irreparable, And Dwells Upon Objects That Have Lost Or Changed Their Existence; It Requires What It Cannot Hope, That The Laws Of The Universe Should Be Repealed; That The Dead Should Return, Or The Past Should Be Recalled.
Past
Law
Sorrow
You May Abuse A Tragedy, Though You Cannot Write One. You May Scold A Carpenter Who Has Made You A Bad Table, Though You Cannot Make A Table. It Is Not Your Trade To Make Tables.
Writing
Abuse
Criticism
I Know Not Any Crime So Great That A Man Could Contrive To Commit As Poisoning The Sources Of Eternal Truth.
Men
Crime
Source
As All Error Is Meanness, It Is Incumbent On Every Man Who Consults His Own Dignity, To Retract It As Soon As He Discovers It.
Men
Errors
Dignity
Without Frugality None Can Be Rich, And With It Very Few Would Be Poor.
Would Be
Rich Poor
Frugal
There May Be Community Of Material Possessions, But There Can Never Be Community Of Love Or Esteem.
Community
May
Communism
That Is The Happiest Conversation Where There Is No Competition, No Vanity, But A Calm, Quiet Interchange Of Sentiments...
Communication
Vanity
Competition
No Man Tells His Opinion So Freely As When He Imagines It Received With Implicit Veneration.
Men
Advice
Opinion
Every Man That Has Felt Pain Knows How Little All Other Comforts Can Gladden Him To Whom Health Is Denied. Yet Who Is There Does Not Sometimes Hazard It For The Enjoyment Of An Hour?
Pain
Health
Men
Accustom Your Children Constantly To This; If A Thing Happened At One Window And They, When Relating It, Say That It Happened At Another, Do Not Let It Pass, But Instantly Check Them; You Do Not Know Where Deviation From Truth Will End
Children
Window
Ends
Sir, As A Man Advances In Life, He Gets What Is Better Than Admiration, - Judgement, To Estimate Things At Their True Value.
Men
Age
Admiration
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
Read The Book You Do Honestly Feel A Wish And Curiosity To Read.
Book
Reading
Curiosity
Complaints Are Vain; We Will Try To. Do Better Another Time. To-morrow And To-morrow. A Few Designs And A Few Failures, And The Time Of Designing Is Past.
Failure
Past
Design
He That Reads And Grows No Wiser Seldom Suspects His Own Deficiency, But Complains Of Hard Words And Obscure Sentences, And Asks Why Books Are Written Which Cannot Be Understood.
Book
Reading
Complaining
He That Fails In His Endeavors After Wealth Or Power Will Not Long Retain Either Honesty Or Courage.
Courage
Honesty
Work
No Man Can Enjoy Happiness Without Thinking That He Enjoys It.
Happiness
Men
Thinking
To Love Their Country Has Been Considered As Virtue In Men, Whose Love Could Not Be Otherwise Than Blind, Because Their Preference Was Made Without, A Comparison; But It Has Never Been My Fortune To Find, Either In Ancient Or Modern Writers, Any Honourable Mention Of Those, Who Have, With Equal Blindness, Hated Their Country.
Country
Men
Ancient
The Expense Is Damnable, The Position Is Ridiculous, And The Pleasure Fleeting.
Fleeting
Ridiculous
Pleasure
A Horse That Can Count To Ten Is A Remarkable Horse, Not A Remarkable Mathematician.
Horse
Animal
Mathematician
Consider What Importance To Society The Chastity Of Women Is. Upon That All The Property In The World Depends. We Hang A Thief For Stealing A Sheep; But The Unchastity Of A Woman Transfers Sheep And Farm And All From The Right Owner.
Sheep
Thieves
World
Patron: One Who Countenances, Supports Or Protects. Commonly A Wretch Who Supports With Insolence, And Is Repaid In Flattery.
Support
Flattery
Patronage
A Country Gentleman Should Bring His Lady To Visit London As Soon As He Can, That They May Have Agreeable Topicks For Conversation When They Are By Themselves.
Country
Gentleman
May
Pleasure Itself Is Not A Vice
Vices
Pleasure
People In General Do Not Willingly Read If They Have Anything Else To Amuse Them.
People
Ifs
Tomorrow Is An Old Deceiver, And His Cheat Never Grows Stale.
Deception
Tomorrow
Cheat
Love Is Only One Of Many Passions.
Passion
Love Is
Differences, We Know, Are Never So Effectually Laid Asleep As By Some Common Calamity; An Enemy Unites All To Whom He Threatens Danger.
Differences
Enemy
Common
Men Go To Sea, Before They Know The Unhappiness Of That Way Of Life; And When They Have Come To Know It, They Cannot Escape From It, Because It Is Then Too Late To Choose Another Profession; As Indeed Is Generally The Case With Men, When They Have Once Engaged In Any Particular Way Of Life.
Men
Sea
Soldier
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
Men Have Solicitude About Fame; And The Greater Share They Have Of It, The More Afraid They Are Of Losing It.
Men
Losing
Reputation
A Mere Literary Man Is A Dull Man; A Man Who Is Solely A Man Of Business Is A Selfish Man; But When Literature And Commerce Are United, They Make A Respectable Man.
Respect
Selfish
Men
Every Man Is Of Importance To Himself.
Men
Self
Importance
To Let Friendship Die Away By Negligence And Silence Is Certainly Not Wise. It Is Voluntarily To Throw Away One Of The Greatest Comforts Of The Weary Pilgrimage.
Friendship
Wise
Silence
But, Perhaps, The Flatterer Is Not Often Detected; For An Honest Mind Is Not Apt To Suspect, And No One Exerts The Power Of Discernment With Much Vigour When Selflove Favors The Deceit.
Mind
Deceit
Favors
Let Me Smile With The Wise, And Feed With The Rich.
Smile
Wise
Money
He Who Would Govern His Actions By The Laws Of Virtue Must Regulate His Thoughts By Those Of Reason.
Law
Action
Virtue
Golf Is A Game In Which You Claim The Privileges Of Age, And Retain The Playthings Of Childhood.
Golf
Games
Childhood
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
Criticism, Though Dignified From The Earliest Ages By The Labours Of Men Eminent For Knowledge And Sagacity, Has Not Yet Attained The Certainty And Stability Of Science.
Knowledge
Science
Men
But It Is Evident, That These Bursts Of Universal Distress Are More Dreaded Than Felt; Thousands And Ten Thousands Flourish In Youth, And Wither In Age, Without The Knowledge Of Any Other Than Domestic Evils, And Share The Same Pleasures And Vexa­tions, Whether Their Kings Are Mild Or Cruel, Whether The Armies Of Their Country Pursue Their Enemies Or Retreat Before Them.
Country
Kings
Army
Such Is The Constitution Of Man That Labor May Be Said To Be Its Own Re-ward.
Exercise
Men
May
We May Have Uneasy Feelings For Seeing A Creature In Distress Without Pity; For We Have Not Pity Unless We Wish To Relieve Them.
Feelings
Wish
May
Conjecture As To Things Useful, Is Good; But Conjecture As To What It Would Be Useless To Know, Is Very Idle.
Would Be
Useless
Theory
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
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
Contempt Is A Kind Of Gangrene Which, If It Seizes One Part Of A Character, Corrupts All The Rest By Degrees.
Character
Degrees
Kind
Life, However Short, Is Made Still Shorter By Waste Of Time.
Life
Waste
Wasting Time
The Business Of Life Summons Us Away From Useless Grief, And Calls Us To The Exercise Of Those Virtues Of Which We Are Lamenting Our Deprivation.
Grief
Exercise
Useless
That Friendship May Be At Once Fond And Lasting, There Must Not Only Be Equal Virtue On Each Part, But Virtue Of The Same Kind; Not Only The Same End Must Be Proposed, But The Same Means Must Be Approved By Both.
Mean
Vices
May
Such Seems To Be The Disposition Of Man, That Whatever Makes A Distinction Produces Rivalry.
Men
Rivalry
Disposition
It Is Advantageous To An Author That His Book Should Be Attacked As Well As Praised. Fame Is A Shuttlecock. If It Be Struck At One End Of The Room, It Will Soon Fall To The Ground. To Keep It Up, It Must Be Struck At Both Ends.
Book
Fall
Writing
All Wonder Is The Effect Of Novelty On Ignorance.
Ignorance
Novelty
Wonder
Our Minds, Like Our Bodies, Are In Continual Flux; Something Is Hourly Lost, And Something Acquired.... Do Not Suffer Life To Stagnate; It Will Grow Muddy For Want Of Motion: Commit Yourself Again To The Current Of The World.
Mind
Suffering
World
Beauty, Without Kindness, Dies Unenjoyed And Undelighting.
Beauty
Kindness
Dies
It Was The Maxim, I Think, Of Alphonsus Of Aragon, That Dead Counsellors Are Safest. The Grave Puts An End To Flattery And Artifice, And The Information We Receive From Books Is Pure From Interest, Fear, And Ambition. Dead Counsellors Are Likewise Most Instructive, Because They Are Heard With Patience And With Reverence.
Book
Ambition
Thinking
Wise Married Women Don't Trouble Themselves About Infidelity In Their Husbands.
Wise
Husband
Infidelity
Instead Of Rating The Man By His Performances, We Rate Too Frequently The Performances By The Man.
Men
He Man
Rating
Marriage Is The Best State For Man In General, And Every Man Is A Worst Man In Proportion To The Level He Is Unfit For Marriage.
Marriage
Character
Men
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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