Samuel Johnson Quotes

Every one at the bottom of his heart cherishes vanity; even the toad thinks himself good-looking,--"rather tawny perhaps, but look at his eye!

If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us.

I don't think anyone gets bored of being called good-looking. We are all vain in one way or another.

If we never flattered ourselves we should have but scant pleasure.

Do I think well of myself, think myself a nice chap? WEll, I am afraid I sometimes do (and those are, no doubt, my worst moments).

Pride differs in many things from vanity, and by gradations that never blend, although they may be somewhat indistinguishable. Pride may perhaps be termed a too high opinion of ourselves founded on the overrating of certain qualities that we do actually possess; whereas vanity is more easily satisfied, and can extract a feeling of self-complacency from qualifications that are imaginary.

If we could see ourselves as others see us, we would vanish on the spot.

We grow small trying to be great.

Throughout the centuries, man has considered himself beautiful. I rather suppose that man only believes in his own beauty out of pride; that he is not really beautiful and he suspects this himself; for why does he look on the face of his fellow-man with such scorn?

Am I really cool? You're telling me I'm cool? Well, that's good to hear.

Men sometimes feel injured by praise because it assigns a limit to their merit; few people are modest enough not to take offense that one appreciates them.

My vanity is not remotely physical, it is cerebral. I suppose feeling self-conscious might be a form of vanity, though.

The longer I am out of office, the more infallible I appear to myself.

I should have more vanity.

Although I am small, ugly and dirty, I am highly ambitious, and at the slightest flattery, I immediately start to strut like a turkey.

It is difficult to esteem a man as highly as he would wish.

I always took myself really seriously in my 20s and needed everyone to know that I wasn't a spoiled blond actress.

So many actors say, 'Oh, I can't bear to see myself on screen,' but it's not true. Everyone loves to see themselves from a good angle.

I think people just probably don't want people to think that they're vain.

Imperfections would not be half so much taken notice of, if vanity did not make proclamation of them.

I think I'm still, in many ways, a terribly self-conscious person. I'd probably be shooting and think, "Well, how does my hair look?"

Men like to think well of themselves, and poets help them do it.

Because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the addition of other men's praises is most perilous.

It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does. And men take care that they should.

What mortal is there of us, who would find his satisfaction enhanced by an opportunity of comparing the picture he presents to himself of his doings, with the picture they make on the mental retina of his neighbours? We are poor plants buoyed up by the air-vessels of our own conceit.