Only in America By Norman Mailer

General truths are seldom applied to particular occasions.

Samuel Johnson to Joseph Baretti, as quoted by James Boswell

Surely life, if it be not long, is tedious, since we are forced to call in the assistance of so many trifles to rid us of our time, of that time which never can return.

Samuel Johnson to Joseph Baretti, as quoted by James Boswell

War and Its Consequences

I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed.

Samuel Johnson to a young friend, as quoted by James Boswell

Cosmic Doomsday

...recent experiments showed that a patient's sense of pain can increase threefold when his or her spouse is in the room.

The New Yorker, January 20, 2003, pg. 55.

When the radical idea branches out into parallel ramifications, how can a consecutive series be formed of senses in their own nature collateral?

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary as quoted by James Boswell

Pepys Online Diary

I shall rejoice to hear from you, till I can see you, and will see you as soon as I can.

Samuel Johnson to a friend, as quoted by James Boswell

It has been long observed, that men do not suspect faults which they do not commit.

Samuel Johnson, as quoted by James Boswell

Having carried on my work thus far with so little obligation to any favourer of learning, I shall not be disappointed though I should conclude it, if less be possible, with less; for I have been long wakened from that dream of hope, in which I once boasted myself with so much exultation.

Samuel Johnson to his former patron, Lord Chesterfield, as quoted by James Boswell