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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 45

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

The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. But as every art ought to be exercized in due subordination to the public good, I cannot but propose it as a moral

The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. But as every art ought to be exercized in due subordination to the public good, I cannot but propose it as a moral question to these masters of the public ear, whether they do not sometimes play too wantonly with our passions.

Art, Passion, Play

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1836). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: with an essay on his life and genius”, p.395

Spring is the season of gaiety, and winter of terror; in spring the heart of tranquility dances to the melody of the groves, and the eye of benevolence sparkles at the sight of happiness and plenty: in winter, compassion melts at universal calamity, and the tear of softness starts at the wailing of hunger and the cries of the creation in distress

Spring, Heart, Eye

Wine gives a man nothing. It neither gives him knowledge nor wit; it only animates a man, and enables him to bring out what a dread of the company has repressed. It only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost.

Drinking, Food, Wine

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.220

I am sorry I have not learnt to play at cards. It is very useful in life: it generates kindness, and consolidates society.

Sorry, Kindness, Gambling

In James Boswell 'Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides' (1785) 21 November 1773

The perfect day for quitting is not real. It will never come, so might as well start today

Encouragement, Real, Perfect Days

Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate, roll darkly down the torrent of his fate.

Ignorance, Fate, Destiny

Samuel Johnson, “The Vanity Of Human Wishes”

Art hath an enemy called ignorance.

Art, Philosophy, Ignorance

These are the men who, without virtue, labour, or hazard, are growing rich, as their country is impoverished; they rejoice, when obstinacy or ambition adds another year to slaughter and devastation; and laugh, from their desks, at bravery and science, while they are adding figure to figure, and cipher to cipher, hoping for a new contract from a new armament, and computing the profits of a siege or tempest.

Country, Honesty, Integrity

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1811). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, L. L. D.: In Twelve Volumes”, p.115

I know not anything more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed.

Running, Reality, Ideas

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1799). “Boswell's Life of Johnson: Including Boswell's Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides, and Johnson's Diary of A Journey Into North Wales”, p.390

There are innumerable questions to which the inquisitive mind can in this state receive no answer: Why do you and I exist? Why was this world created? Since it was to be created, why was it not created sooner?

Mind, Answers, World

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.328

Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well.

Judging, Criticism, Firsts

Samuel Johnson (2011). “Dictionary of the English Language (Complete and Unabridged)”, p.2341, BookBaby

Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance.

Ignorance, Pure

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 1755)

False taste is always busy to mislead those that are entering upon the regions of learning; and the traveller, uncertain of his way, and forsaken by the sun, will be pleased to see a fainter orb arise on the horizon, that may rescue him from total darkness, though with weak and borrowed lustre.

Ignorance, Darkness, Horizon

Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). “The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752”, p.148

Nothing has so exposed men of learning to contempt and ridicule as their ignorance of things which are known to all but themselves. Those who have been taught to consider the institutions of the schools as giving the last perfection to human abilities are surprised to see men wrinkled with study, yet wanting to be instructed in the minute circumstances of propriety, or the necessary form of daily transaction; and quickly shake off their reverence for modes of education which they find to produce no ability above the rest of mankind.

School, Ignorance, Men

Samuel Johnson (1810). “Works”, p.420

Genius is that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates.

Inspirational, Energy, Genius

Samuel Johnson (1810). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An essay on his life and genius”, p.169

I am willing to love all of mankind, except an American.

Love, Energy, Environment

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 15 Apr. 1778)

Turn on the prudent Ant, thy heedful eyes, Observe her labours, Sluggard, and be wise.

Wise, Eye, Laziness

"The poems of Samuel Johnson".

No, Sir, you will have much more influence by giving or lending money where it is wanted, than by hospitality.

Giving, Hospitality, Influence

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.153

Of many, imagined blessings it may be doubted whether he that wants or possesses them had more reason to be satisfied with his lot.

Blessing, May, Want

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1834). “Murphy's essay. The rambler. The adventurer. The idler. Rasselas. Tales of the imagination. Letters. Irene. Miscellaneous poems”, p.342

...it will not always happen that the success of a poet is proportionate to his labor.

Writing, Poet, Labor

Samuel Johnson (1854). “Lives of the British Poets: In Four Volumes”, p.244

Tediousness is the most fatal of all faults.

Writing, Faults

Samuel Johnson, Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay (1854). “Lives of the most eminent English poets: with critical observations on their works”, p.223

To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.

Friendship, Wise, Silence

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.106

He said that few people had intellectual resources sufficient to forgo the pleasures of wine. They could not otherwise contrive how to fill the interval between dinner and supper.

Wine, People, Intellectual

He who aspires to be a serious wine drinker must drink claret.

Wine, Serious, Drink

Lectures were once useful; but now when all can read, and books are so numerous, lectures are unnecessary.

Book, Teaching, Lectures

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.69

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