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.

Quote by Samuel Johnson

Topics: Books Quotes

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with...

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with...

Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.

Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.

There is scarcely any writer who has not celebrated the happiness of rural privacy, and...

There is scarcely any writer who has not celebrated the happiness of rural privacy, and...

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its...

The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its...

While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till it...

While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till it...

Power is not sufficient evidence of truth.

Power is not sufficient evidence of truth.

There is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at...

There is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at...

One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for...

One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for...

Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not...

Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not...

He that is pushing his predecessors into the gulf of obscurity, cannot but sometimes suspect,...

He that is pushing his predecessors into the gulf of obscurity, cannot but sometimes suspect,...

If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why,...

If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why,...

Marriage, Sir, is much more necessary to a man than to a woman; for he...

Marriage, Sir, is much more necessary to a man than to a woman; for he...

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how...

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how...

At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.

At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.

Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head that I do not...

Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head that I do not...

It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward...

It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward...

For sorrow there is no remedy provided by nature; it is often occasioned by accidents...

For sorrow there is no remedy provided by nature; it is often occasioned by accidents...

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the...

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the...

What is the noble truth of suffering? Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering and sorrow...

What is the noble truth of suffering? Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering and sorrow...