Poems List
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.
Integrity which has been attacked by no temptation can at best be considered but as gold not yet brought to the test, of which therefore the true value cannot be assigned.
Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
Is not a patron one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help?
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 of my labours, 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.
It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability.
It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done.
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 only one end of the room, it will soon fall to the ground. To keep it up, it must be struck at both ends.
It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.
It is better that some should be unhappy than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality.
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Samuel Johnson (18 de setembro de 1709 - 13 de dezembro de 1784) foi um escritor inglês que se tornou um dos mais célebres intelectuais do seu tempo. Nascido em Lichfield, Staffordshire, lutou com problemas de saúde e financeiros durante grande parte da sua vida. A sua obra mais influente, 'A Dictionary of the English Language' (1755), foi um marco na lexicografia inglesa, definindo o vocabulário e a ortografia da língua. Johnson também produziu ensaios perspicazes, sermões, poemas e biografias, incluindo 'Lives of the Poets'. Foi uma figura central nos círculos literários de Londres, conhecido pela sua inteligência aguçada, conversação brilhante e opiniões firmes. A sua vida e obra foram imortalizadas na 'Life of Samuel Johnson' de James Boswell, uma das biografias mais importantes da literatura inglesa.