Quotes from Samuel Johnson

ALMS  (ALMS)   n.s.[in Saxon, elmes, from eleemosyna, Lat.]What is given gratuitously in relief of the poor. It has no singular. My arm'd knees,Which bow'd

AIDANCE  (A'IDANCE)   n.s.[from aid.]Help; support: a word little used. Oft have I seen a timely parted ghost,Of ashy semblance, meagre, pale, and bloodless,Being all descended to the lab'ring heart,Who, in the conflict that it holds with death,Attracts the same for aidance 'gainst the enemy.Sh.Hen. VI.

ALMSDEED  (ALMSDEED)   n.s.[from alms and deed.]An act of charity; a charitable gift. This woman was full of good works, and almsdeeds which she did.BibleActs,ix. 36. Hard favour'd Richard, where art thou?Thou art not here: murder is thy almsdeed;Petitioner for blood thou ne'er put'st back.Shakespeare'sHenry VI.

Satan, with vast and haughty strides advanc'd,Came tow'ring, arm'd in adamant, and gold.Parad. Lost.

This iron world (the same he weeping says)Brings down the stoutest hearts to lowest state:For misery doth bravest minds abate.Spens.Hubberd's Tale.

To ABLEGATE  (A'BLEGATE)   v.a.[ablego, Lat.] To send abroad upon some employment; also to send a person out of the way that one is weary of.Dict.  

To ABSCIND  (ABSCI'ND)   v.a.To cut off, either in a natural or figurative sense.

To ABATE [only in 1755 edition] (ABATE)   [in horsemanship.] A horse is said to abate or take down his curvets; when working upon curvets, he puts his two hind-legs to the ground both at once, and observes the same exactness in all the times.Dict.   

The art of communicating instruction, of whatever kind, is much to be valued; and I have ever thought that those who devote themselves to this employment, and do their duty with diligence and success, are entitled to very high respect from the community, as Johnson himself often maintained. Yet I am of opinion that the greatest abilities are not only not required for this office, but render a man less fit for it.

Evil into the mind of God or man May come and go, so unapprov'd, and leave No spot or stain behind. Milton.

The triumph of hope over experience.

ALNAGAR  (A'LNAGAR)    A'LNAGER, or A'LNEGER.n.s.[from alnage.] A measurer by the ell; a sworn officer, whose business formerly was to inspect the assize of woollen cloth, and to fix the seals appointed upon it for that purpose; but there are now three officers belonging to the regulation of cloth-manufactures, the searcher, measurer, and alneger.Dict.   ALNAGE  (A'LNAGE)   n.s.[from aulnage, or aunage, Fr.] Ell-measure

ABATER  (ABA'TER)   n.s.The agent or cause by which an abatement is procured. Abaters of acrimony or sharpness: expressed oils of ripe vegetables, and all preparations of such; as of almonds, pistachoes, and other nuts.Arbuthnoton diet.

ABATURE  (A'BATURE)   n.s.[a hunting term.] Those sprigs of grass which are thrown down by a stag in his passing by.Dict.

He is a good man, who grieves rather for him that injures him, than for his own suffering; who prays for him, that wrongs him, forgiving all his faults; who sooner shews mercy than anger; who offers violence to his appetite, in all things endeavouring to subdue the flesh to the spirit. This is an excellent abbreviature of the whole duty of a christian.Taylor'sGuide to devotion.   

love.Taylor.11. To bear proportion to. He desired, that proper officers might search me; for probably I might carry several weapons, which must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person.Swift'sGulliver's Travels.12. To perform what is endeavoured or intended by

Among masons, the joint or juncture of two stones, or the interstice between two stones to be filled up with mortar.Dict.   

ANNATS  (A'NNATS)   n.s. without singular.[annates, Lat.]1. First fruits; because the rate of first fruits paid of spiritual livings, is after one year's profit.Cowell.2. Masses said in the Romish church for the space of a year, or for any other time, either for the soul of a person deceased, or for the benefit of a person living.Ayliffe'sParergon.

ANTITYPE  (A'NTITYPE)   n.s.[   which is resembled or shadowed out by the type; that of which the type is the representation.It is a term of theology.See TYPE. When once upon the wing, he soars to an higher pitch, from the type to the antitype, to the days of the Messiah, the ascension of our Saviour, and, at length, to his kingdom and dominion over all the earth.Burnet'sTheory of the Earth.

To ABDICATE  (A'BDICATE)   v.a.[Lat. abdico.]To give up right; to resign; to lay down an office. Old Saturn, here, with upcast eyes,Beheld his abdicated skies.Addison.

From the perpetual necessity of consulting the animal faculties, in our provision for the present life, arises the difficulty of withstanding their impulses, even in cases where they ought to be of no weight; for the motions of sense are instantaneous, its objects strike unsought, we are accustomed to follow its directions, and therefore often submit to the sentence without examining the authority of the judge.

in lexicography, as in other arts, naked science is too delicate for the purposes of life. The value of a work must be estimated by its use; it is not enough that a dictionary delights the critick, unless, at the same time, it instructs the learner; as it is to little purpose that an engine amuses the philosopher by the subtilty of its mechanism, if it requires so much knowledge in its application as to be of no advantage to the common workman.

Marriage is the strictest tie of perpetual friendship

ANTLER  (A'NTLER)   n.s.[andouillier, Fr.]Properly the first branches of a stag's horns; but, popularly and generally, any of his branches.