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.

March 14, 2025

12 months ago

[Of political life] The hatreds which sound so real when you read the words, which look so true when you see their scornful attitudes

July 18, 2025

7 months ago

I pay my tax bills more readily than any others—for whether the money is well or ill spent

November 23, 2025

3 months ago

You may be sure that when a man begins to call himself a realist he is preparing to do something that he is secretly ashamed of doing.

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