DR JOHNSON SAID :

On Scotland (from James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ 1791) :
1.  What enemy would invade Scotland, where there is nothing to be got ?
2.  Dr Johnson : « Scotland is a very vile country, to be sure »
The Scot : « Well Sir, God made it »
Dr Johnson « Certainly he did ; but we must always remember that he made it for Scotchmen. Comparisons are odious, but God made Hell 
3.  Definition of ‘oats’ (Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language 1755) :
Oats : a grain which in England is generally given to a horse, but in Scotland it supports the people.

On Age :
There is a wicked inclination in most people to suppose an old man decayed in his intellects. If a young or middle-aged man, when leaving a company, does not recollect where he laid his hat, it is nothing ; but if the same inattention is discovered in an old man, people will shrug up their shoulders, and say, « His memory is going ».

On Friendship :
If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendships in constant repair.

On Health and Sickness :
It may be said that disease generally begins that equality which death completes….

On London :
….you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life ; for there is in London all that life can afford.

SAMUEL JOHNSON 1709 - 1784
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