Quote#Self
[...] for the Doctor observed, that no man takes upon himself small…
Quote byJames Boswell · 1740–1795
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791), (30 November 1784).
English (original)
[...] for the Doctor observed, that no man takes upon himself small blemishes without supposing that great abilities are attributed to him; and that, in short, this affectation of candour or modesty was but another kind of indirect self-praise, and had its foundation in vanity.
— James Boswell
More from James Boswell
The best good man, with the worst natur'd muse.
Johnson is dead. Let us go to the next best — there is nobody; no man can be said to put you in mind of Johnson.
Boswell is pleasant and gay, For frolic by nature designed; He heedlessly rattles away When company is to his mind.
I fancy mankind may come, in time, to write all aphoristically.
'Sir,' said Mr Johnson, 'a lawyer has no business with the justice or injustice of the cause which he undertakes, unless his client asks his opinion, and then he is bound to give it honestly. The justice or injustice of the cause is to be …
Influence must ever be in proportion to property; and it is right it should.