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A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 9 July 1763.

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, written by James Boswell. Vol. 1, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, "1733," aetat. 24.

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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That sign of old age: extolling the past at the expense of the present.

Sydney Smith

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Smith, Sydney. Quoted in A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by Saba Holland. Vol. 1, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855, ch. 11.

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I have tried too in my time to be a philosopher; but, I don't know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in.

Oliver Edwards

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Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Edwards, Oliver. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 17 Apr. 1778.

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Edwards, Oliver. Quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson. Written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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Sir, I think all Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, agree in the essential articles, and that their differences are trivial, and rather political than religious.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 13 June 1763.

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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What truly is logic? Who decides reason? My quest has taken me to the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional, and back. I have made the most important discovery of my career—the most important discovery of my life. It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found. I am only here tonight because of you. You are the reason I am. You are all my reasons. Thank you.

A Beautiful Mind

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A Beautiful Mind. Directed by Ron Howard, Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures/Imagine Entertainment, 2001.

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Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.

Chris McCandless

Into the Wild

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Into the Wild. Directed by Sean Penn, Paramount Vantage/River Road Entertainment/Square One C.I.H./Linson Film, 2007.

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I think no innocent species of wit or pleasantry should be suppressed; and that a good pun may be admitted among the smaller excellencies of lively conversation.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. c. June 1784.

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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You will be in the public eye. Beware of them cameras. Oh, them cameras are bad as any narcotic.

Elijah Muhammad

Malcolm X

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Malcolm X. Directed by Spike Lee, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, 1992.

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I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong.

Chris McCandless

Into the Wild

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Into the Wild. Directed by Sean Penn, Paramount Vantage/River Road Entertainment/Square One C.I.H./Linson Film, 2007.

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It is so far from being natural for a man and woman to live in a state of marriage, that we find all the motives which they have for remaining in that connection, and the restraints which civilized society imposes to prevent separation, are hardly sufficient to keep them together.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 31 Mar. 1772.

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindness there is at last one which makes the heart run over.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 19 Sept. 1777.

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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That all who are happy, are equally happy, is not true. A peasant and a philosopher may be equally satisfied, but not equally happy. Happiness consists in the multiplicity of agreeable consciousness.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, written by James Boswell. Vol. 1, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, "1766," aetat. 57.

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Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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A compass, I learnt when I was surveying, it'll...it'll point you True North from where you're standing, but it's got no advice about the swamps and desert and chasm that you'll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead, heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp...what's the use of knowing True North?

Lincoln

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Lincoln. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Amblin Entertainment/Participant Media/20th Century Fox/DreamWorks Pictures/Reliance Entertainment/RatPac Entertainment/The Kennedy/Marshall Company/Dune Entertainment, 2012.

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Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.

Patton

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Patton. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox, 1969.

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The artist must have the patience of water that eats away the rock drop by drop.

Auguste Rodin

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Rodin, Auguste and S. K. Star. Rodin: The Man and His Art, with Leaves from His Notebook. Century, 1917, p. 7.

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A trip through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat.

Wilson Mizner

On Hollywood.

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Mizner, Wilson. Quoted in The Legendary Mizners, written by Alva Johnston. Farrar, Straus and Young, 1953, ch. 4.

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Autumn is quite beautiful here but all the same has a funereal air, like all beautiful autumns-something like a funereal relaxation of things.

Marcel Duchamp

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Grist, Thomas. The Duchamp Dictionary. Thames & Hudson, 2014, p. 70.

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My whole life, people have been telling me what I could do and couldn't do. I’ve always listed to ’em, believed in what they said. I don’t wanna do that anymore.

Rudy

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Rudy. Directed by David Anspaugh, TriStar Pictures, 1993.

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For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph—a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning, that all glory is fleeting.