“There are indeed, in the present corruption of
mankind, many incitements to forsake truth: the need of palliating our own
faults and the convenience of imposing on the ignorance or credulity of others
so frequently occur; so many immediate evils are to be avoided, and so many
present gratifications obtained, by craft and delusion, that very few of those
who are much entangled in life have spirit and constancy sufficient to support
them in the steady practice of open veracity." —English man of letters Samuel
Johnson (1709 -1784), Rambler #96
(February 16, 1751)
(Portrait of Dr. Johnson by his friend, Sir Joshua Reynolds.)
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