Wisdom from Samuel Johnson, Lexicographer

In the harsh climate of endless election cycle, let us spare a brief moment in consideration of the wisdom from the long-dead English lexicographer Samuel Johnson.

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

This is best demonstrated currently by the odious, orange-visaged canker-blossom of the moment I need not name.

Johnson’s wisdom (and misogyny) are easily internet-viewable. Many a chestnut awaits the curious reader:

Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o’clock is a scoundrel.

O’er preoccupied with scoundrels was this wordsmith? Perhaps. Although there are extant, today as then, so very many. From beyond the grave he expands my vocabulary:

My dear friend, clear your mind of cant.

He traffics effortlessly in the current medium of self-help:

Self-confidence is the first requisite of great undertakings.

It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.

He provides advice for parenting and education:

Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find?

Here is wise counsel for the entertainment industry:

The true measure of a [person] is how [s]he treats someone who can do [her] absolutely no good.

Also, the honest examination of human inclinations:

A man seldom thinks with more earnestness than he does of his dinner.

And finally he gives morbid encouragement for awareness present moment:

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.