374. Life; Misery
"Misery is caused for the most part, not by a heavy crush of
disaster, but by the corrosion of less visible evils, which
canker enjoyment, and undermine security. The visit of an
invader is necessarily rare, but domestic animosities allow no
cessation."
Johnson: Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
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621. Misery
"From all our observations we may collect with certainty, that
misery is the lot of man, but cannot discover in what particular
condition it will find most alleviations."
Johnson: Rambler #45 (August 21, 1750)
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641. Misery
"Much mischief is done in the world with very little interest or
design."
Johnson: Idler #3 (April 29, 1758)
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710. Envy; Humanity; Misery;
Vanity
"It is 
natural for every man uninstructed to
murmur at his
condition, because, in the general infelicity of life, he feels
his own miseries without knowing that they are common to all the
rest of the species; and, therefore, though he will not be less
sensible of pain by being told that others are equally tormented,
he will at least be freed from the temptation of seeking, by
perpetual changes, that ease which is no where to be found, and
though his diseases still continue, he escapes the hazard of
exasperating it by remedies."
Johnson: Rambler #66 (November 3, 1750)
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852. Misery
"The misery of man proceeds not from any single crush of
overwhelming evil, but from small vexations continually
repeated."
Johnson: Pope (Lives of the Poets)
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864. Misery
"Men are most powerfully affected by those evils which themselves
feel, or which appear before their own eyes."
Johnson: Rambler #77 (December 11, 1750)
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867. Misery
"Frequent discontent must proceed from frequent hardships."
Johnson: Rambler #77 (December 11, 1750)
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1,184. Misery; Shame
"Misery and shame are nearly allied."
Johnson: Rambler #133 (June 25, 1751)
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1,827. Misery; Sin
"Religion informs us that misery and sin were produced together.
The depravation of human will was followed by a disorder of the
harmony of nature; and by that Providence which often places
antidotes in the neighborhood of poisons, vice was checked by
misery, lest it should swell to universal and unlimited
dominion."
Johnson: Idler #89 (December 29, 1759)
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