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When we know exactly all a man's views and how he comes to speak and act so and so, we lose any respect for him, though we may love and admire him.

James Boswell

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James Boswell
Age: 54 †
Born: 1740
Born: October 18
Died: 1795
Died: May 19
Biographer
Diarist
Lawyer
Writer
Edinburgh
Scotland
James Boswell I
James
I Boswell
Comes
Admire
May
Exactly
Men
Lose
Love
Respect
Views
Loses
Though
Speak
Familiarity

More quotes by James Boswell

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The man who stops making new friends eventually will have none.
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I have seen many a bear led by a man: but I never before saw a man led by a bear.
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A woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinter legs. It is not done well but you are surprised to see it done at all.
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The scent of Sloth tempts a smug man.
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Those who would extirpate evil from the world know little of human nature. As well might punch be palatable without souring as existence agreeable without care.
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No, Sir, claret is the liquor for boys port for men: but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy. In the first place brandy will do soonest for a man what drinking can do for him.
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My wife, who does not like journalizing, said it was leaving myself embowelled to posterity--a good strong figure. But I think itis rather leaving myself embalmed. It is certainly preserving myself.
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I am so fond of tea that I could write a whole dissertation on its virtues. It comforts and enlivens without the risks attendant on spirituous liquors. Gentle herb! Let the florid grape yield to thee. Thy soft influence is a more safe inspirer of social joy.
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We must take our friends as they are.
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[A]s a lady adjusts her dress before a mirror, a man adjusts his character by looking at his journal.
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That favorite subject, Myself.
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If a man who is born to a fortune cannot make himself easier and freer than those who are not, he gains nothing.
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A Sceptick therefore, who because he finds that Truths are not universally received, doubts of their existence, is just as foolish as a man who should try large shoes upon little feet, and little shoes upon large feet, and finding that they did not fit.
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My mind was, as it were, strongly impregnated with the Johnsonian ether.
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I went to my father's at night. He spoke of poor John [Boswell's brother] with disgust. I was shocked and said, He's your son, and God made him. He answered very harshly, If my sons are idiots, can I help it?
James Boswell
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Quotation is more universal and more ancient than one would perhaps believe.
James Boswell
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My curiosity to see the melancholy spectacle of the executions was so strong that I could not resist it, although I was sensible that I would suffer much from it.... I got upon a scaffold near the fatal tree so that I could clearly see all the dismal scene.... I was most terribly shocked, and thrown into a very deep melancholy.
James Boswell
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If a man is prodigal, he cannot be truly generous.
James Boswell
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In every picture there should be shade as well as light.
James Boswell
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What an insignificant life is this which I am now leading!
James Boswell