The power, indeed, of every individual is small, and the consequence of his endeavours imperceptible, in a general prospect of the world. Providence has given no man ability to do much, that something might be left for every man to do. The business of life is carried on by a general co-operation; in which the part of any single man can be no more distinguished, than the effect of a particular drop when the meadows are floated by a summer shower: yet every drop increases the inundation, and every hand adds to the happiness or misery of mankind. β¨ Samuel Johnson (1810). The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An essay on his life and genius, p.291
More Author Quotes
- He left the name at which the world grew pale, To point a moral, or adorn a tale. β¨ 'The Vanity of Human Wishes' (1749) l. 219 (on Charles XII of Sweden)
- We have now learned that rashness and imprudence will not be deterred from taking credit; let us try whether fraud and avarice may be more easily restrained from giving it. β¨ Samuel Johnson, Arthur M β¦ βΆ
- Worth seeing, yes; but not worth going to see. β¨ Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 12 Oct. 1779)
- I am very fond of the company of ladies. I like their beauty, I like their delicacy, I like their vivacity, and I like their silence. β¨ Samuel Johnson (1836). Johnsoniana; or supplement to Boswell; b β¦ βΆ
- The mathematicians are well acquainted with the difference between pure science, which has only to do with ideas, and the application of its laws to the use of life, in which they are constrained to β¦ βΆ
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