Samuel Johnson

Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying the advantages we expect from them.

A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.

The expense is damnable, the position is ridiculous, and the pleasure fleeting.

Then with no throbs of fiery pain, No cold gradations of decay, Death broke at once the vital chain, And freed his soul the nearest way.

His death eclipsed the gayety of nations, and impoverished the public stock of harmless pleasure.

Trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay.

Our desires always increase with our possessions. The knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed impairs our enjoyment of the good before us.

Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.

Sir, I think all Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, agree in the essential articles, and that their differences are trivial, and rather political than religious.

Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance.