Samuel Johnson citáty

page 9

„Pamäť je matkou všetkej múdrosti.“

„Nikto sa nemôže vrátiť späť a začať odznova, ale každý môže začať dnes a utvoriť nový koniec.“

„Zvedavosť je, hlavne vo veľkých a veľkorysých mysliach, prvou a poslednou vášňou.“

„Zachovať si svoje tajomstvo je múdrosť, ale očakávať, že ho zachovajú ostatní, je hlúposť.“

„Ak človek počas svojho života nenadväzuje nové známosti, zostane sám. Človek by mal svoje priateľstvá neustále spravovať.“

„Zarmútení ľudia nepovažujú váš súcit nikdy za dostatočný.“

„Dvomi hlavnými hýbateľmi ľudskej mysle sú túžba po dobre a strach zo zla.“

„Íri sú féroví ľudia - nikdy nehovoria dobre jeden o druhom.“

„Nerád sa rozprávam s ľuďmi, ktorí viac napísali ako prečítali.“

„So zveľaďovaním mravov, s poznaním dobra sa ľudia stávajú obratnejšími v konaní zla.“

„Skutočnú hodnotu človeka poznáme podľa toho, ako sa správa k niekomu, kto pre neho nemôže celkom nič urobiť.“

„Láska je múdrosť bláznov a bláznovstvo múdrych.“

„Jedna z nevýhod vína je, že núti človeka zamieňať myšlienky za slová.“

„Génius väčšinou zničí iba sám seba. Hlúpy človek svojou hlúposťou nakazí ostatných.“

„Bohatstvo nevzbudzuje pravú úctu, vzbudzuje iba vonkajšiu pozornosť.“

„Milujem spoločnosť dám. Milujem ich krásu, milujem ich jemnosť, milujem ich živosť a milujem ich mlčanie.“

„Myslím, že prednášky nemôžu toľko prospieť ako čítanie kníh, z ktorých sa prednášky robia.“

„Druhé manželstvo: triumf nádejí nad skúsenosťami.“

„Je lepšie bohato žiť, ako bohato zomrieť.“

„Láska, ktorú dávame, je ta jediná, ktorú vlastníme.“

„To, čo je napísané bez trápenia, sa číta bez radosti.“

„Umenie pamäti je v umení pozornosti.“

„Čas a peniaze sú najťažším bremenom človeka, beda tomu, kto ich má viac, ako ich môže a vie užiť.“

„Človek musí mať dosť znalostí so sebou, ak si chce nejaké priviezť.“

„Chcel by som sa smiať s múdrymi a jesť s bohatými.“

„Je nudné baviť sa s človekom, ktorý toho viac napísal ako prečítal.“

„Každý muž verí, že ženy sú neverné a priaznivci vrtkavé, ale vyníma z toho svoju vlastnú ženu a svojho vlastného priaznivca.“

„Muž bez akéhokoľvek stupňa zdržanlivosti je neznesiteľný.“

„Muž je šťastnejší, ak má na poludnie na stole dobrý obed, ako to, keď jeho žena ovláda klasickú gréčtinu.“

„Muža spravidla viac poteší, že má na stole dobrý obed, ako to, že jeho žena vie grécky.“

„Nič nemôže tak rýchlo zbaviť rozum ostražitosti ako spoločný život s milovanou ženou.“

„Nič nerobí človeka takým nemožným ako blahosklonnosť, tj. keď niekto dáva najavo, že jeho rozum je zbytočne veľký pre spoločnosť, v ktorej sa nachádza.“

„Niet takej bezcennej knihy, čo by neobsahovala nič dobré.“

„Opatrnosť je postoj, ktorý síce prináša bezpečie, ale len málokedy šťastie.“

„Prezradiť vlastné tajomstvo je nerozum, prezradiť tajomstvo cudzie je špatnosť.“

„Prijať dobré rady vyžaduje viac múdrosti ako ich rozdávať.“

„Šťastie pociťujeme, iba keď ho odráža niekto iný.“

„Vďaka vínu sa človek väčšinou páči sám sebe, čo však vôbec neznamená, že sa väčšinou páči aj iným.“

„Zlí ľudia ospravedlňujú svoje chyby, dobrí sa im snažia vyhnúť.“

„Zvyk vidieť veci a udalosti z lepšej stránky je väčšia hodnota, než akú by človek získal, keby zarobil hoc aj 500 000 korún ročne.“

“[The poet] must write as the interpreter of nature and the legislator of mankind, and consider himself as presiding over the thoughts and manners of future generations, as a being superior to time and place.”

“It is man's own fault, it is from want of use, if his mind grows torpid in old age.”

“The unjustifiable severity of a parent is loaded with this aggravation, that those whom he injures are always in his sight.”

“A country governed by a despot is an inverted cone.”

“From Thee, great God: we spring, to Thee we tend,
Path, motive, guide, original, and end.”

“If the man who turnips cries,
Cry not when his father dies,
'Tis a proof that he had rather
Have a turnip than his father.”

“[Imlac continues] "It was never supposed that cogitation is inherent in matter, or that every particle is a thinking being. Yet, if any part of matter be devoid of thought, what part can we suppose to think? Matter can differ from matter only in form, density, bulk, motion, and direction of motion: to which of these, however varied or combined, can consciousness be annexed? To be round or square, to be solid or fluid, to be great or little, to be moved slowly or swiftly one way or another, are modes of material existence, all equally alien from the nature of cogitation. If matter be once without thought, it can only be made to think by some new modification, but all the modifications which it can admit are equally unconnected with cogitative powers."”

“He that thinks himself capable of astonishing may write blank verse: but those that hope only to please must condescend to rhyme.”

“If lawyers were to undertake no causes till they were sure they were just, a man might be precluded altogether from a trial of his claim, though, were it judicially examined, it might be found a very just claim.”

“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.”

“A Poet, Naturalist, and Historian,
Who left scarcely any style of writing untouched,
And touched nothing that he did not adorn.”

“I remember a passage in Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield," which he was afterwards fool enough to expunge: "I do not love a man who is zealous for nothing."… There was another fine passage too which he struck out: "When I was a young man, being anxious to distinguish myself, I was perpetually starting new propositions. But I soon gave this over; for I found that generally what was new was false."”

“Frugality may be termed the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance and the parent of Liberty.”

“Cold approbation gave the ling'ring bays,
For those who durst not censure, scarce could praise.”

“Melancholy, indeed, should be diverted by every means but drinking.”

“A fellow that makes no figure in company, and has a mind as narrow as the neck of a vinegar-cruet.”

“The richest author that ever grazed the common of literature.”

“We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know, because they have never deceived us.”

“No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library.”

“I never have sought the world; the world was not to seek me.”

“I have two very cogent reasons for not printing any list of subscribers; — one, that I have lost all the names, — the other, that I have spent all the money.”

“Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue that it is always respected, even when it is associated with vice.”

“Such is the common process of marriage. A youth and maiden meeting by chance, or brought together by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, go home, and dream of one another. Having little to divert attention, or diversify thought, they find themselves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore conclude that they shall be happy together. They marry, and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness had before concealed; they wear out life in altercations, and charge nature with cruelty.”

“How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?”

“A Frenchman must be always talking, whether he knows anything of the matter or not; an Englishman is content to say nothing, when he has nothing to say.”

“I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drives into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark.”

“Every state of society is as luxurious as it can be. Men always take the best they can get.”

“Philips, whose touch harmonious could remove
The pangs of guilty power and hapless love!
Rest here, distress'd by poverty no more;
Here find that calm thou gav'st so oft before;
Sleep undisturb'd within this peaceful shrine,
Till angels wake thee with a note like thine!”

“To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.”