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We frequently fall into error and folly, Dr. Johnson tells us, “not because the true principles of action are not known, but because, for a time, they are not remembered.” To compress, therefore, the great and obvious rules of life into brief sentences which are not easily forgotten is, as he said, to confer a real benefit upon us.

— Logan Pearsall Smith Reperusals and Recollections (1936)

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More quotes by Logan Pearsall Smith

How many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares if there seemed any danger of their coming true!

Afterthoughts (1931)

Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find his own.

Afterthoughts (1931)

There are few sorrows, however poignant, in which a good income is of no avail.

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There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.

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The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable perfection, even though it consist in nothing more than the pounding of an old piano, is what alone gives a meaning to our life on this unavailing star.

Afterthoughts (1931)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Logan Pearsall Smith (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.