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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 56

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

I do not much wish well to discoveries, for I am always afraid they will end in conquest and robbery.

I do not much wish well to discoveries, for I am always afraid they will end in conquest and robbery.

Discovery, Wish, Ends

Samuel Johnson (2014). “The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume II: 1773-1776”, p.16, Princeton University Press

Labor's face is wrinkled with the wind, and swarthy with the sun.

Wind, Faces, Sun

Applause abates diligence.

Praise, Diligence, Applause

Samuel Johnson (1797). “The Beauties of Samuel Johnson, Etc. (A New Edition, Being the Ninth.).”, p.29

The prosperity of a people is proportionate to the number of hands and minds usefully employed. To the community, sedition is a fever, corruption is a gangrene, and idleness is an atrophy. Whatever body or society wastes more than it acquires, must gradually decay, and every being that continues to be fed, and eases to labor, takes away something from the public stock.

Hands, Numbers, People

I will take no more physick, not even my opiates; for I have prayed that I may render up my soul to God unclouded.

Soul, Religion, Dying

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.409

Life of Ages, richly poured, Love of God unspent and free, Flowing in the Prophet's word And the People's liberty! Never was to chosen race That unstinted tide confined; Thine is every time and place, Fountain sweet of heart and mind!

Sweet, Heart, Race

Samuel Johnson (1865). “Hymns of the Spirit”, p.436

Condemned to Hope's delusive mine, As on we toil from day to day, By sudden blasts or slow decline Our social comforts drop away.

Toil, Comfort, Aging

'On the Death of Dr Robert Levet' (1783)

Forgetfulness is necessary to remembrance. Ideas are retained by renovation of that impression which time is always wearing away,and which new images are striving to obliterate. If useless thoughts could be expelled from the mind, all the valuable parts of our knowledge would more frequently recur, and every recurrence would reinstate them in their former place.

Ideas, Remembrance, Mind

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

Pour forth thy fervors for a healthful mind, Obedient passions, and a will resigned

Prayer, Passion, Mind

Samuel Johnson (1977). “Selected Poetry and Prose”, p.67, Univ of California Press

Nothing odd will do long. Tristram Shandy did not last.

Long, Literature, Lasts

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 2, p. 449 (20 March 1776)

From Bard, to Bard, the frigid Caution crept, Till Declamation roar'd, while Passion slept.

Drama, Passion, Bards

Samuel Johnson (1836). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.: D., with an Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.551

When first the college rolls receive his name, The young enthusiast quilts his ease for fame; Through all his veins the fever of renown Burns from the strong contagion of the gown

Education, Strong, Quilts

Samuel Johnson, “The Vanity Of Human Wishes”

Year chases year, decay pursues decay, Still drops some joy from with'ring life away; New forms arise, and diff'rent views engage

Time, Views, Years

Samuel Johnson, Alexander Chalmers, Arthur Murphy (1823). “The Works of Samuel Johnson: An essay on the life and genius of Dr. Johnson [by A. Murphy] Poems.- v. 2-4. The rambler.- v. 5. The idler. History of Rasselas, prince of Abissinia.- v. 6-8. The lives of the English poets.- v. 9. Lives of eminent persons. Letters, selected from the collection of Mrs. Piozzi and others. Prayers and meditations.- v. 10. Philological tracts, &c.- v. 11. Miscellaneous tracts, &c. Dedications. Reviews and criticisms. Tales of imagination. The adventurers.-”, p.217

Norway, too, has noble prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high road that leads him to England!

Noble, Lapland, Norway

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 1, p. 425 (6 July 1763)

His virtues walked their narrow round, Nor made a pause, nor left a void; And sure the Eternal Master found The single talent well employed.

Void, Talent, Virtue

Samuel Johnson (1816). “The Poetical Works of Samuel Johnson, L.L.D.: With an Account of the Author's Life”, p.109

But grant, the virtues of a temp'rate prime Bless with an age exempt from scorn or crime; An age that melts with unperceived decay, And glides in modest Innocence away

Age, Decay, Innocence

Samuel Johnson, Niall Rudd (1981). “Johnson's Juvenal: London and The Vanity of Human Wishes”, Bloomsbury Academic

There may be other reasons for a man's not speaking in publick than want of resolution: he may have nothing to say.

Men, May, Want

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (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.317

If the guardian or the mother Tell the woes of willful waste, Scorn their counsel and their pother, You can hang or drown at last.

Mother, Woe, Lasts

Samuel Johnson (1977). “Selected Poetry and Prose”, p.71, Univ of California Press

Criticism is a study by which men grow important and formidable at very small expense. The power of invention has been conferred by nature upon few, and the labour of learning those sciences which may, by mere labour, be obtained, is too great to be willingly endured; but every man can exert some judgment as he has upon the works of others; and he whom nature has made weak, and idleness keeps ignorant, may yet support his vanity by the name of critic.

Men, Vanity, Names

Samuel Johnson (1836). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.: D., with an Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.413

It is incident to physicians, I am afraid, beyond all other men, to mistake subsequence for consequence.

Mistake, Men, Physicians

1734 Review of Dr Lucas's Essay on Waters, 25 Nov.

A lawyer has no business with the justice or injustice of the cause which he undertakes, unless his client asks his opinion, and then he is bound to give it honestly. The justice or injustice of the cause is to be decided by the judge.

Giving, Justice, Judging

Quoted in James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785) (entry for 15 Aug. 1773)

Few moments are more pleasing than those in which the mind is concerting measures for a new undertaking.

Mind, Moments, Undertakings

Samuel Johnson (1784). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes..”, p.253

Among the innumerable mortifications which waylay human arrogance on every side may well be reckoned our ignorance of the most common objects and effects, a defect of which we become more sensible by every attempt to supply it. Vulgar and inactive minds confound familiarity with knowledge and conceive themselves informed of the whole nature of things when they are shown their form or told their use; but the speculatist, who is not content with superficial views, harasses himself with fruitless curiosity, and still, as he inquires more, perceives only that he knows less.

Education, Peace, Truth

Do not ... hope wholly to reason away your troubles; do not feed them with attention, and they will die imperceptibly away. Fix your thoughts upon your business, fill your intervals with company, and sunshine will again break in upon your mind.

Death, Hope, Sunshine

Samuel Johnson (2014). “The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume II: 1773-1776”, p.299, Princeton University Press

Among the calamities of war may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth by falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages. A peace will equally leave the warrior and the relater of wars destitute of employment; and I know not whether more is to be dreaded from streets filled with soldiers accustomed to plunder, or from garrets filled with scribblers accustomed to lie.

War, Lying, Soldier

The Idler no. 30 (11 Nov. 1758)

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