Prudence operates on life in the same manner as rules on composition: it produces vigilance rather than elevation, rather prevents loss than procures advantage; and often escapes miscarriages but seldom reaches either power or horror. … Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Idler, #57 (19 May 1759)
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