No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library; for who can see the wall crowded on every side by mighty volumes, the works of laborious meditations and accurate inquiry, now scarcely…

Quote by Samuel Johnson

Topics: Libraries Quotes

Every error in human conduct must arise from ignorance in ourselves, either perpetual or temporary;...

Every error in human conduct must arise from ignorance in ourselves, either perpetual or temporary;...

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted...

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted...

Those who have no power to judge of past times but by their own, should...

Those who have no power to judge of past times but by their own, should...

Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are...

Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are...

Those who are in the power of evil habits must conquer them as they can;...

Those who are in the power of evil habits must conquer them as they can;...

Judgment is forced upon us by experience

Judgment is forced upon us by experience

Deviation from nature is deviation from happiness

Deviation from nature is deviation from happiness

A fishing pole is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool...

A fishing pole is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool...

Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call...

Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call...

I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know...

I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know...

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...

By taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing...

By taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing...

What signifies protesting so against flattery! when a person speaks well of one, it must...

What signifies protesting so against flattery! when a person speaks well of one, it must...

Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man...

Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man...

Critics, like the rest of mankind, are very frequently misled by interest

Critics, like the rest of mankind, are very frequently misled by interest

The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed...

The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed...

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...

I respect Millar: he has raised the price of literature

I respect Millar: he has raised the price of literature

I this day was spectator of the most magnificent Triumph that certainly ever floted on...

I this day was spectator of the most magnificent Triumph that certainly ever floted on...

A wicked book cannot repent

A wicked book cannot repent