Men who have flattered themselves into this opinion of their own abilities, look down on all who waste their lives over books, as a race of inferior beings condemned by nature to perpetual pupilage, and fruitlessly endeavouring to remedy their barrenness by incessant cultivation, or succour their feebleness by subsidiary strength. They presume that none would be more industrious than they, if they were not more sensible of deficiences; and readily conclude, that he who places no confidence in his own powers owes his modesty only to his weakness. ✨ Samuel Johnson (1823). The Works of Samuel Johnson: LL.D. A New Edition in Twelve Volumes. With an Essay on His Life and Genius, by Arthur Murphy, Esq, p.83
More Author Quotes
- He that floats lazily down the stream, in pursuit of something borne along by the same current, will find himself indeed moved forward; but unless he lays his hand to the oar, and increases his speed … ▶
- We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us. ✨ Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1840). The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: With an Essay on His Life and Ge … ▶
- For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill. ✨ Tobias George Smollett, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith (1810). The Poetical Works of Doctors Smollett, Johnson, and Goldsmith
- He that pursues fame with just claims, trusts his happiness to the winds; but he that endeavors after it by false merit, has to fear, not only the violence of the storm, but the leaks of his vessel. … ▶
- Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in the arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess. ✨ The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides.
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