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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 40

All Quotes Abstinence Abuse Accidents Achievement Adventure Advertising Affection Age Aging Alcohol Ambition Anxiety Appearance Appreciation Army Arrogance Art Atheism Attitude Authority Being Yourself Belief Benevolence Bitterness Blindness Bravery Business Change Character Charity Childhood Children Choices Church Civility Communication Community Compassion Confidence Consciousness Cooking Corruption Country Courage Crime Criticism Culture Curiosity Darkness Death Deception Defeat Design Desire Determination Devil Difficulty Dignity Disappointment Doubt Drinking Duty Dying Education Effort Elegance Energy English Language Envy Equality Evidence Evil Excellence Exercise Expectations Failing Failure Fame Fashion Fate Fear Feelings Flattery Flight Focus Food Freedom Friends Friendship Funny Future Genius Giving Glory Gold Goodness Grace Gratitude Greatness Grief Grieving Guilt Happiness Hate Hatred Health Heart Heaven History Home Honesty Honor Hope House Humanity Hunger Hurt Husband Hypocrisy Ignorance Imagination Imitation Imperfection Injury Innocence Inspirational Integrity Intelligence Journey Joy Judgement Judging Judgment Justice Kindness Knowledge Labor Language Laughter Laziness Learning Liberty Life Life And Death Life And Love Literature Losing Loss Love Lying Mankind Manners Marriage Meditation Memories Miscarriage Modesty Money Morality Morning Motivational Nature Office Opportunity Originality Overcoming Pain Passion Past Patience Peace Perfection Perseverance Philosophy Pleasure Poetry Politics Positive Positive Thinking Poverty Power Praise Prejudice Preparation Pride Privacy Progress Property Prosperity Prudence Purpose Quality Reading Reality Reflection Regret Rejection Religion Repentance Reputation Resentment Respect Retirement Revenge Revolution Sacrifice Safety Sailing School Science Security Self Esteem Self Love Shame Silence Sin Sleep Sloth Society Solitude Sorrow Soul Spring Struggle Study Stupidity Style Success Suffering Sunshine Talent Teaching Temptation Theatre Time Tragedy Travel Trust Truth Tyranny Uncertainty Understanding Values Violence Virtue Waiting Wall War Water Weakness Wealth Whiskey Wife Wine Winter Wisdom Wit Work Worry Writing Youth

Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment.

Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment.

Hope, Schemes, Merriment

'The Idler' no. 58 (26 May 1759)

There are charms made only for distant admiration.

Admiration, Charm, Made

Samuel Johnson (1795). “The Lives of the English Poets: and a Criticism on Their Works. By Samuel Johnson”, p.85

Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed.

Life, Littles, States

Rasselas ch. 11 (1759)

Leisure and curiosity might soon make great advances in useful knowledge, were they not diverted by minute emulation and laborious trifles.

Knowledge, Curiosity, Might

Samuel Johnson (1784). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes..”, p.97

I also admit, that there are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking; as there are fruits which are not good till they are rotten.

Drinking, Men, Alcohol

"The Table Talk of Dr. Johnson: Comprising Opinions and Anecdotes of Life and Literature, Men, Manners, and Morals".

We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us.

Life, Trust, Believe

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1840). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius /c by Arthur Murphy, Esq”, p.433

I am a great friend to public amusements; for they keep people from vice.

People, Vices, Amusement

"The Sayings of Doctor Johnson".

Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying the advantages we expect from them.

Inspirational, Power, Expectations

It is better that some should be unhappy rather than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality.

Happiness, Equality, Egalitarianism

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 7 Apr. 1776)

No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library.

Hope, Vanity, Expectations

'The Rambler' no. 106 (23 March 1751)

Nobody can write the life of a man but those who have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him.

Writing, Men, Drunk

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 2, p. 166 (31 March 1772)

The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty.

Strong, Compassion, Principles

Samuel Johnson (1836). “Johnsoniana; or supplement to Boswell; being Anecdotes and sayings of Dr. Johnson, etc”, p.108

When a man says he had pleasure with a woman he does not mean conversation.

Mean, Men, Doe

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Edmond Malone (1824). “The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D., comprehending an account of his studies, and numerous works, in chronological order: a series of his epistolary correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published; the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great Britain, for near half a century during which he flourished”, p.237

Adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is most beneficial to us.

Adversity, Thinking, States

Books that you may carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are the most useful after all.

Book, Fire, Hands

"Johnsoniana; or supplement to Boswell; being Anecdotes and sayings of Dr. Johnson".

Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.

Life, Men, Spheres

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides”, p.145

I have found men to be more kind than I expected, and less just.

Men, Kind, Found

I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance.

Friendship, Positive, Looks

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 374 (November 1784)

I will be conquered; I will not capitulate.

Death, Dying

Talking of his illness, in James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 374 (November 1784)

It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability.

Confidence, Genius, Pace

Samuel Johnson (1827). “The Rambler”, p.32

Let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich.

Smile, Wise, Money

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 2, p. 79 (6 October 1769); responding to a line from Garrick's 'Florizel and Perdita' act 2, sc. 1: 'They smile with the simple, and feed with the poor'

Prepare for death, if here at night you roam, and sign your will before you sup from home.

Death, Home, Night

Samuel Johnson (1820). “The Poems of Dr. Samuel Johnson. To which is Prefixed, a Life of the Author”, p.30

Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are supplied must admit those of fancy.

Real, Desire, Want

Samuel Johnson, Abraham Raimbach, Robert Smirke (1819). “Rasselas”, p.30

The vanity of being known to be trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it.

Vanity, Secret, Chiefs

Samuel Johnson (1820). “The Rambler”, p.68

The world is seldom what it seems; to man, who dimly sees, realities appear as dreams, and dreams realities.

Dream, Reality, Men

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