There are occasions on which it is noble to dare to stand alone. To be pious among infidels, to be disinterested in a time of general venality, to lead a life of virtue and reason in the midst of sensualists, is a proof of a mind intent on nobler things than the praise or blame of men, of a soul fixed in the contemplation of the highest good, and superiour to the tyranny of custom and example. β¨ Samuel Johnson (1810). The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An essay on his life and genius, p.287
More Author Quotes
- Nay, Madam, when you are declaiming, declaim; and when you are calculating, calculate. β¨ James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). The Life of Samuel Johnson, p.29
- All the performances of human art, at which we look with praise or wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance. β¨ Samuel Johnson (1825). The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With Mur β¦ βΆ
- If, sir, men were all virtuous, I should with great alacrity teach them all to fly. But what would be the security of the good if the bad could at pleasure invade them from the sky? Against an army s β¦ βΆ
- Sir, what is poetry? Why, Sir, it is much easier to say what it is not. We all know what light is; but it is not easy to tell what it is. β¨ In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 3 β¦ βΆ
- It is the quality of patriotism to be jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations, and to see publick dangers at a distance. The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fea β¦ βΆ
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