Quotes Library

April 27, 2025

A decent provision for the poor, is the true test of civilization.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English poet, critic, lexicographer, in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) 1770, Jay p.197

Do the poor inspire compassion, or are they just annoying? Shiftless scammers?

Johnson puts it well, and simply so.

Society

More Quotes

December 14, 2025
December 14, 2025
War & Peace
No example is so dangerous, as that of violence employed by well-meaning people for beneficial objects.
October 20, 2025
October 20, 2025
Freedom & Justice
Universal suffrage [i.e., votes for all adult men and women] is the government of a house by its nursery.
November 9, 2025
November 9, 2025
War & Peace
As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy.
123456…123
Page 4 of 123