Pity is not natural to man. Children are always cruel. Savages are alw…

Samuel Johnson
884 citations
Pity is not natural to man. Children are always cruel. Savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations from seeing a creature in distress, without pity; for we have not pity unless we wish to relieve them. ✨ Life of Johnson: Including Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides and Johnson's Diary of a Journey Into North Wales.
Life
14

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A man is very apt to complain of the ingratitude of those who have risen far above him. ✨ James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). The Life of Samuel Johnson, p.2
Melancholy, indeed, should be diverted by every means but drinking. ✨ James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Edmond Malone (1824). The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D., comprehending an account of his studies, … ▶
I am far from any intention to limit curiosity, or confine the labours of learning to arts of immediate and necessary use. It is only from the various essays of experimental industry, and the vague e … ▶
The fountain of contentment must spring up in the mind.
Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable. ✨ Quoted in The Morning Chronicle, 1816.

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