you, but a flat denial: for if you are silent, or hesitate, or evade, it will be held equivalent to a confession.-Life. June 13, 1784. Lawfulness of If a murderer should ask you which way a Lying man is gone, you may tell him what is not true; because you are under a previous obligation not to betray a man to a murderer.—Life. June 13, 1784. A madman loves to be with people whom A Madman he fears; not as a dog fears the lash, but of whom he stands in awe.-Life. September 20, 1777. Madmen Madness Madness Madmen are all sensual in the lower stages of the distemper.-Life. September 20, 1777. Madness is occasioned by too much indulgence of imagination.-Life. Many a man is mad in certain instances, and goes through life without having it perceived.-Life. Langton's Collectanea, 1780. Madness frequently discovers itself merely Madness by unnecessary deviation from the usual modes.-Life. June 19, 1784. Danger of Of the uncertainties of our present state, Madness the most dreadful and alarming is the uncertain continuance of reason.-Rasselas, ch. xlii. When female minds are embittered by age Old Maids or by solitude, their malignity is generally exerted in a vigorous and spiteful superintendence of domestic trifles.-Rambler, No. 112. Malignity Desires of A Respectable Short is the triumph of malignity.-Idler, No. 28. The desires of man increase with his acquisitions.—Idler, No. 30. A A mere literary man is a dull man. Man man who is solely a man of business is a selfish man; but, when literature and commerce are united, they make a respectable man.-Anecdote of Johnson, by Robert Barclay, of Bury Hill, Dorking. A Well-bred One immediately attracts your liking, the and Ill-bred other Man your aversion. You love the one till you find reason to hate him; you hate the other till you find reason to love him.-Life. June 19, 1784. Speaking of a Man in his Never speak of a man in his own presence. Presence It is always indelicate, and may be offensive. -Life. March 25, 1776. Mankind a Mankind is one vast republic, where every Republic individual receives many benefits from the labour of others, which, by labouring in his turn for others, he is obliged to repay.-Idler, No. 19. Bad Manners It is very bad manners to carry provisions to any man's house, as if he could not entertain you. To an inferior it is oppressive, to a superior it is insolent.-Journal. August 20. Marriage Marriage is much more necessary to a man than to a woman; for he is much less able to March supply himself with domestic comforts.-Life. 25, 1776. Marriage Marriage is the best state for man in general; and every man is a worse man in proportion as he is unfit for the married state.—Life. March 22, 1776. I do not pretend to have discovered that Marriage life has anything more to be desired than a prudent and virtuous marriage.-Life. Letter to Baretti. December 21, 1762. Benevolence and prudence will make Marriage marriage happy but what can be expected but disappointment and repentance from a choice made in the immaturity of youth, in the ardour of desire, without judgment, without foresight, without inquiry into conformity of opinions, similarity of manners, rectitude of judgment, or purity of sentiment ?-Rasselas, ch. xxix. It is a very foolish resolution to resolve not Marriage to marry a pretty woman. Beauty is of itself very estimable. No, I would prefer a pretty woman, unless there are objections to her. A pretty woman may be foolish; a pretty woman may be wicked; a pretty woman may not like me. But there is no such danger in marrying a pretty woman as is apprehended; she will not be persecuted if she does not invite persecution. A pretty woman, if she has a mind to be wicked, can find a readier way than another; and that is all.-Life. June 5, 1781. Marriage Marriage like life has its growth. The first year is the year of gaiety and revel.-Idler, No. 86. December 8, 1759. Marriage Marriage is the strictest tie of perpetual friendship; that there can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. --Rambler, No. 19. Marriage Marriage is evidently the dictate of nature; man and woman are made to be companions of each other, and therefore I cannot be persuaded but that marriage is one of the means of happiness.-Rasselas, ch. xxviii. Marriage I would advise no man to marry who is not likely to propagate understanding.— Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 97. Marriage Un- It is so far from being natural for a man and Man. woman to live in a state of marriage, that we find all the motives which they have for remaining in that connection, and the restraint which civilised society imposes to prevent separation, are hardly sufficient to keep them together.-Life. March 31, 1772. Marriages I believe marriages would in general be as happy, and often more so, if they were all made by the Lord Chancellor, upon a due consideration. of the characters and circumstances, without the parties having any choice in the matter.-Life. March 24, 1776. Early From early marriages proceeds the rivalry Marriages. of parents and children: the son is eager to enjoy the world, before the father is willing to forsake it, and there is hardly room at once for two generations. The daughter begins to bloom before the mother can be content to fade, and neither can forbear to wish the absence of the other.-Rasselas, ch. 29. Ill-assorted Even ill-assorted marriages are preferable Marriages to cheerless celibacy.-Life. Dr. Maxwell's Collectanea, 1770. Late In the variety and jollity of youthful pleaMarriages sures, life may be well enough supported without the help of a partner. Longer time will increase experience, and wider views will allow better opportunities of inquiry and selection: one advantage at least, will be certain; the parents will be visibly older than their children.-Rasselas, ch. 29. Misery of The unhappy produce of them becomes Late Marriages the play things of dotage: An old man's child leads much such a life, as a little boy's dog, seized with awkward fondness, and forced to set up and beg, as we call it, to divert a company, who at last go away complaining of their disagreeable company.-Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 11. Comparison of I believe it will be found that those who Marriages. marry late are best pleased with their children, and those who marry early with their partners.— Rasselas, ch. 29. Marriage Settlements are expected, that often to a Settlements mercantile man especially, sink a fortune into uselessness; and pin-money is stipulated for, which makes a wife independent, and destroys love, by putting |