How can I know what I think unless I see what I write?

Eric Jong
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
Fear of Flying (1973)
 
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Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.

Eric Jong
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
“Intuition, extuition …”, How to Save Your Own Life (1977)
 
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The soul is awakened through service.

Eric Jong
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
Fear of Fifty: A Midlife Memoir, ch. 10 (1994)
 
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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

Eric Jong
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
“The Artist as Housewife,” The First Ms. Reader, ed. Francine Kragbrun (1972)
 
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Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Give him a religion, and he’ll starve to death while praying for a fish.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Timothy Jones
 
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Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.

Thomas F. Jones, Jr. (1916-1981) American educator
(Attributed)
 
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There was nothing funny about what Christ said and what’s funny really is the fact that Christ said all these really good things about Love Thy Neighbor and everything, and then for the next two thousand years people are killing each other and torturing each other because they can’t quite decide how he said it.

Terry Jones (1942-2020) Welsh comedian, screenwriter, director, author
Aspen Comedy Festival (1998)
 
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SARAH: That’s not fair!
JARETH: You keep saying that. I wonder what your basis for comparison is?

Terry Jones (1942-2020) Welsh comedian, screenwriter, director, author
Labyrinth (1986)

(with Dennis Lee and Jim Henson)
 
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Your organization is not a praying institution. It’s a fighting institution. It’s an educational institution along industrial lines. Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1860-1930) American labor leader [a.k.a. Mother Jones]
Autobiography of Mother Jones (1925)

To the Fairmont, WV, district miners, telling them to leave the church where they were meeting and gather in the fields.
 
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What makes resisting temptation difficult, for many people, is that they don’t want to discourage it completely.

Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
 
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The most efficient labor-saving device is still money.

Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
 
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The difference between news and gossip lies in whether you raise your voice or lower it.

Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
 
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An atheist is one who hopes the Lord will do nothing to disturb his disbelief.

Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
 
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One thing about experience is that when you don’t have very much you’re apt to get a lot.

Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
 
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Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.

Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
 
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I dream of being Bugs Bunny, but when I wake up, I’m Daffy Duck or Wile E. Coyote.

Chuck Jones (1912-2002) American animator, screenwriter, producer, and director
(Attributed)
 
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The truth will set you free. But before it does, it will make you angry.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Jerry Joiner
 
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A change imposed is a change opposed.

Spencer Johnson (b. 1940) American psychologist, author
Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)
 
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It is safer to search in the Maze than to remain in a cheeseless situation.

Spencer Johnson (b. 1940) American psychologist, author
Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)
 
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What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

Spencer Johnson (b. 1940) American psychologist, author
Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)
 
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He knew sometimes some fear can be good. When you are afraid things are going to get worse if you don’t do something, it can prompt you into action. But it is not good when you are so afraid that it keeps you from doing anything.

Spencer Johnson (b. 1940) American psychologist, author
Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)
 
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The biggest inhibitor to change lies within yourself, and nothing gets better until you change.

Spencer Johnson (b. 1940) American psychologist, author
Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)
 
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Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable and others extremely difficult.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (7 Dec 1782)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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There is no kind of idleness by which we are so easily seduced as that which dignifies itself by the appearance of business.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Idler, #48 (17 Mar 1759)
    (Source)
 
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The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
(Attributed)
 
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Pleasure of itself is not a vice.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (15 Apr 1778)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never decieved us.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Idler, #80 (27 Oct 1759)
    (Source)
 
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The vanity of being trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it; for however absurd it may be thought to boast an honor by an act with shows that it was conferred without merit, yet most men seem rather inclined to confess the want of virtue than of importance, and more willingly show their influence, though at the expense of their probity, than glide through life with no other pleasure than the private consciousness of fidelity; which, while it is preserved, must be without praise, except from the single person who tries and knows it.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #13 (1 May 1750)
    (Source)
 
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Those who do not feel pain seldom think that it is felt.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #48 (1 Sep 1750)
    (Source)
 
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If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment to Joshua Reynolds (1755)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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Whereas, Sir, you know courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (5 Apr 1775), in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
    (Source)

See Lewis.
 
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But if he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (14 Jul 1763)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (7 Apr 1775)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791):
Patriotism having become one of our topicks, Johnson suddenly uttered, in a strong determined tone, an apophthegm, at which many will start: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." But let it be considered, that he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak of self-interest.
Ambrose Bierce wrote in his Devil's Dictonary, "In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first."
 
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All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable that I would not rather know it than not.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (14 Apr 1775)
    (Source)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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It is better to live rich, than to die rich.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (17 Apr 1778)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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Sir, all the arguments which are brought to represent poverty as no evil, shew it to be evidently a great evil. You never find people labouring to convince you that you may live very happily upon a plentiful fortune.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (20 Jul 1768)
    (Source)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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To let friendship die away by negligence and silence, is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of this weary pilgrimage.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (20 Mar 1782)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, # 96 (16 Feb 1751)
 
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A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Letter to Lord Chesterfield (1754)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Note to entry for 20 Mar 1776.
 
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Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. Yonder palace was raised by single stones, yet you see its height and spaciousness. He that shall walk with vigor three hours a day will pass in seven years a space equal to the circumference of the globe.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, ch. 13 (1759)
    (Source)
 
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I live in the crowd of jollity, not so much to enjoy company as to shun myself.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, ch. 26 (1759)
    (Source)
 
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The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (1780)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation of how it shall be spent; dleiberation, which those who begin it by prudence, and continue it with futility, must, afer long expence of thought, conclude by chance. To prefer one future mode of life to another, upon just reasons, requires faculties which it has not pleased our Creator to give us.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Letter to James Boswell (21 Aug 1766)
    (Source)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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The greatest part of mankind have no other reason for their opinions than that they are in fashion.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Plays of William Shakespeare, “Macbeth” (1765)
 
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Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach, and even this negative recompense has been yet granted to very few.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
A Dictionary of the English Language, Preface (1755)
 
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Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Adventurer, #111 (27 Nov 1753)
    (Source)
 
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Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (19 Sep 1777)
    (Source)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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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)
    (Source)
 
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It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #79 (18 Dec 1750)
    (Source)
 
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I deny the lawfulness of telling a lie to a sick man for fear of alarming him; you have no business with consequences, you are to tell the truth.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (13 Jun 1784)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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If I were punished for every pun I shed, there would not be left a puny shed of my punnish head.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
(Attributed)
 
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While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (10 Apr 1776)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
 
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A successful tool is one that was used to do something undreamed of by its author.

(Other Authors and Sources)
S. C. Johnson

Attributed to both Samuel Curtis Johnson, Sr. (1833-1919), businessman and founder of S. C. Johnson Wax, and (more likely) to Stephan C. Johnson, contemporary computer scientist. In the latter case, it is often written as "A successful [software] tool is ..."

 
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Let the national legislature once perform an act which involves the decision of a religious controversy, and it will have passed its legitimate bounds The precedent will then be established, and the foundation laid, for that usurpation of the divine prerogative in this country which has been the desolating scourge to the fairest portions of the Old World. Our Constitution recognizes no other power than that of persuasion, for enforcing religious observances. Let the professors of Christianity recommend their religion by deeds of benevolence, by Christian meekness, by lives of temperance and holiness. Let them combine their efforts to instruct the ignorant, to relieve the widow and the orphan, to promulgate to the world the gospel of their Saviour, recommending its precepts by their habitual example; government will find its legitimate object in protecting them. It cannot oppose them, and they will not need its aid. Their moral influence will then do infinitely more to advance the true interests of religion than any measures they may call on Congress to enact.

Richard Mentor Johnson (1781-1850) US politician, Vice-President (1837-1841)
Report on the Transportation of Mail on Sundays, 20th Congress, 2nd Session (19 Jan 1829)
    (Source)
 
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The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false.

Paul Johnson (b. 1928) English journalist, historian, speechwriter, author
The Recovery of Freedom (1980)
 
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