Other related topics at:
Virtue and Vice
The Whole Truth
601. Friendship; Honesty;
Offense
"The resentment produced by sincerity, whatever be its immediate
cause, is so certain, and generally so keen, that very few have
magnanimity sufficient for the practice of a duty, which above
most others exposes its votaries to hardships and persecutions;
yet friendship without it is of very little value, since the
great use of so close an intimacy is, that our virtues may be
guarded and encouraged, and our vices repressed in their first
appearance by timely detection and salutary remonstrances."
Johnson: Rambler #40 (August 4, 1750)
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602. Criticism; Friendship;
Honesty
"It is decreed by Providence, that
nothing truly valuable shall
be obtained in our present state, but with difficulty and danger.
He that hopes for that advantage which is to be gained from
unrestrained communication must sometimes hazard, by unpleasing
truths, that friendship which he aspires to merit. The chief
rule to observed in the exercise of this dangerous office, is to
preserve it pure from all mixture of interest or vanity; to
forbear admonition or reproof, when our consciences tell us that
they are incited, not by the hopes of reforming faults, but the
desire of showing our discrenment, or gratifying our pride by the
mortification of another."
Johnson: Rambler #40 (August 4, 1750)
Link
603. Criticism; Friendship;
Honesty
"It is not indeed certain, that the most refined caution will
find a proper time for bringing a man to the knowledge of his own
failing, or the most zealous benevolence reconcile him to that
judgment by which they are detected; but he who endeavours only
the happiness of him whom he reproves will always have either the
satisfaction of obtaining or deserving kindness; if he succeeds,
he benefits his friend; and if he fails, he has at least the
consciousness that he suffers for only doing well."
Johnson: Rambler #40 (August 4, 1750)
Link
743. Honesty
"It is natural to hope that a comprehensive is likewise an
elevated soul, and that whoever is wise is also honest."
Johnson: Dryden (Lives of the Poets)
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749. Honesty; Truth
"To revenge reasonable incredulity by refusing evidence, is a
degree of insolence with which the world is not yet acquainted;
and stubborn audacity is the last refuge of guilt."
Johnson: Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
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