153. Appearances;
Conformity; Dress; Salvation
Cards, dress, and dancing, however, all found their advocates in
Dr. Johnson, who inculcated, upon principle, the cultivation of
those arts, which many a moralist thinks himself bound to reject,
and many a Christian holds unfit to be practised. "No person
(said he one day) goes under-dressed till he thinks himself of
consequence enough to forbear carrying the badge of his rank upon
his back." And in answer to the arguments urged by Puritans,
Quakers, &c. against showy decorations of the human figure, I
once heard him exclaim, "Oh, let us not be found when our Master
calls us, ripping the lace off our waistcoats, but the spirit of
our contention from our souls and our tongues! Let us all
conform in outward customs, which are of no consequence, to the
manners of those whom we live among, and despise such paltry
distinctions. Alas, Sir (continued he), a man who cannot get to
heaven in a green coat, will not find his way thither the sooner
in a grey one."
Piozzi: Anecdotes
Link
405. Appearances; Patriotism
"Let us take a patriot, where we can meet him; and, that we may
not flatter ourselves by false appearances, distinguish those
marks which are certain, from those which may deceive; for a man
may have the external appearance of a patriot, without the
constituent qualities; as false coins have often lustre, though
they want weight."
Johnson: The Patriot
Link
455. Appearance; Poverty
"Poverty has, in large cities, very different appearances: it is
often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is
the care of a very great part of mankind to conceal their
indigence from the rest; they support themselves by temporary
expedients, and every day is lost in contriving for the
morrow."
Johnson: Rasselas [the princess Nekayah]
Note: If you haven't read it yet, please read this note of caution regarding quotes from
Rasselas.
Link
546. Appearance; Fashion
"I have found by long experience, that there are few enterprises
so hopeless as contests with the fashion, in which the opponents
are not only made confident by their numbers and strong by their
union, but are hardened by contempt of their antagonist, whom
they always look upon as a wretch of low notions, contracted
views, mean conversation, and narrow fortune, who envies the
elevations which he cannot reach, who would gladly imbitter the
happiness which his inelegance or indigence deny him to partake,
and who has no other end in his advice than to revenge his own
mortification by hindering those whom their birth and taste have
set above him, from the enjoyment of their superiority, and
bringing them down to a level with himself."
Johnson: Rambler #15 (May 8, 1750)
Link
727. Appearances; Pleasure;
Vanity
"Pleasure is ... seldom such as it appears to others, nor often
such as we represent it to ourselves. Of the ladies that sparkle
at a musical performance, a very small number has any quick
sensibility of harmonious sounds. But every one that goes has
her pleasure. She has the pleasure of wearing fine clothes, and
of showing them, of outshining those whom she suspects to envy
her; she has the pleasure of appearing among other ladies in a
place where the race of meaner mortals seldom intrudes, and of
reflecting that, in the conversations of the next morning, her
name will be mentioned among those that sat in the first
row."
Johnson: Idler #18 (August 12, 1758)
Link
728. Appearances; Diversion; Fashion;
Pleasure; Vanity
"Whatever diversion is costly will be frequented by those who
desire to be thought rich; and whatever has, by any accident,
become fashionable, easily continues its reputation, because
every one is ashamed of not partaking it."
Johnson: Idler #18 (August 12, 1758)
Link
729. Appearances; Madness of Crowds;
Diversion
"To every place of entertainment we go with expectation and
desire of being pleased; we meet others who are brought by the
same motives; no one will be the first to own the
disappointment; one face reflects the smile of another, till
each believes the rest delighted, and endeavours to catch and
transmit the circulating rapture. In time, all are deceived by
the cheat to which all contribute. The fiction of happiness is
propagated by every tongue, and confirmed by every look, till at
last all profess the joy which they do not feel, consent to yield
to the general delusion, and, when the voluntary dream is at an
end, lament that bliss is of so short a duration."
Johnson: Idler #18 (August 12, 1758)
Link
735. Appearance; Biography;
Character
"It is ... at home that every man must be known by those who
would make a just estimate either of his virtue or felicity; for
smiles and embroidery are alike occasional, and the mind is often
for show in painted honour and fictitious benevolence."
Johnson: Rambler #68 (November 10, 1750)
Link
736. Appearance; Biography;
Character
"The most authentic witnesses of any man's character are those
who know him in his own family, and see him without any restraint
or rule of conduct, but such as he voluntarily prescribes to
himself. If a man carries virtue with him into his private
apartments, and takes no advantage of unlimited power or probable
secrecy; if we trace him through the round of time, and find
that his character, with those allowances which mortal frailty
must always want, is uniform and regular, we have all the
evidence of his sincerity that one man can have with regard to
another; and, indeed, as hypocrisy cannot be its own reward, we
may, without hesitation, determine that his heart is pure."
Johnson: Rambler #68 (November 10, 1750)
Link
1,632. Appearance; Desires; Happiness;
Poverty
"The species of happiness most obvious to the observation of
others, is that which depends upon the goods of fortune; yet even
this is often fictitious. There is in the world more poverty
than is generally imagined; not only because many whose
possessions are large have desires still larger, and many measure
their wants by the gratifications which others enjoy: but great
numbers are pressed by real necessities which it is their chief
ambition to conceal, and are forced to purchase the appearance of
competence and cheerfulness at the expence of many comforts and
conveniencies of life."
Johnson: Adventurer #120 (December 29, 1753)
Link
1,753. Appearances; Dress;
Wealth
"The most striking effect of riches is the splendour of dress,
which every man has observed to enforce respect, and facilitate
reception."
(from the fictional "Tim Ranger")
Johnson: Idler #62 (June 23, 1759)
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