There are goods so opposed that we cannot seize both, but, by too much…

Samuel Johnson
884 citations
There are goods so opposed that we cannot seize both, but, by too much prudence, may pass between them at too great a distance to reach either. ✨ Samuel Johnson (1977). Selected Poetry and Prose, p.119, Univ of California Press
Humanity
31

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As peace is the end of war, so to be idle is the ultimate purpose of the busy. ✨ Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Publish … ▶
Nothing is difficult, when gain and honour unite their influence. ✨ Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1857). The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius, p.412
If we estimate dignity by immediate usefulness, agriculture is undoubtedly the first and noblest science. ✨ Samuel Johnson (1827). The Rambler, p.220
It is the great privilege of poverty to be happy unenvied, to be healthful without physic, and secure without a guard; to obtain from the bounty of nature, what the great and wealthy are compelled to … ▶
This was a good dinner enough, to be sure, but it was not a dinner to ask a man to. ✨ Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 31 July 1763)

There are goods so opposed that we cannot seize both, but, by too much prudence, may pass between them at too great a distance to reach either. ✨ Samuel Johnson (1977). Selected Poetry and Prose, p.119, Univ of California Press

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