No place affords a more ...

No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library; for who can see the wall crowded on every side by mighty volumes, the works of laborious meditations and accurate inquiry, now scarcely known but by the catalogue.
No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library; for who can see the wall crowded on every side by mighty volumes, the works of laborious meditations and accurate inquiry, now scarcely known but by the catalogue.
 Samuel Johnson

Quotes from the same author

If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.
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 Samuel Johnson
To keep your secret is wisdom; but to expect others to keep it is folly.
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 Samuel Johnson
Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.
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 Samuel Johnson
Memory is the mother of all wisdom.
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 Samuel Johnson
Friendship, like love, is destroyed by long absence, though it may be increased by short intermissions.
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 Samuel Johnson