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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 58

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 concentrates one's mind so much as the realization that one is going to be hanged in the morning!

Nothing concentrates one's mind so much as the realization that one is going to be hanged in the morning!

Morning, Mind, Realization

Poetry cannot be translation

Translations

men do not suspect faults which they do not commit

Men, Faults, Commit

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.252

Distance has the same effect on the mind as on the eye.

Distance, Eye, Perspective

Samuel Johnson (1815). “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia: A Tale”, p.190

That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own esteem.

Inspirational, Positive, Self Esteem

Samuel Johnson (1848). “The Wisdom of the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.132

Enlarge my life with multitude of days, In health, in sickness, thus the suppliant prays; Hides from himself his state, and shuns to know, That life protracted is protracted woe. Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy, And shuts up all the passages of joy.

Time, Joy, Woe

'The Vanity of Human Wishes' (1749) l. 255

And panting Time toil'd after him in vain.

Time, Toil, Vain

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.22

When I was as you are now, towering in the confidence of twenty-one, little did I suspect that I should be at forty-nine, what I now am.

Time, Age, Twenties

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1799). “Life of Johnson: Including Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides and Johnson's Diary of a Journey Into North Wales”, p.375

So different are the colors of life, as we look forward to the future, or backward to the past; and so different the opinions and sentiments which this contrariety of appearance naturally produces, that the conversation of the old and young ends generally with contempt or pity on either side.

Time, Past, Color

Samuel Johnson (1784). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes..”, p.88

A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.

Time, Writing, Men

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for Mar. 1750)

You may translate books of science exactly. ... The beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written.

Book, Writing, Science

Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (1825). “The Table Talk of Dr. Johnson: Comprising Opinions and Anecdotes of Life and Literature, Men, Manners, and Morals”, p.264

Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused

Business, Magnificence, Advertising

Samuel Johnson (1810). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An essay on his life and genius”, p.159

Change is not made without inconvenience.

Change, Project Management, Projects

'A Dictionary of the English Language' (1755) preface.

Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is always respected, even when it is associated with vice.

Courage, Quality, Vices

Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (1825). “The Table Talk of Dr. Johnson: Comprising Opinions and Anecdotes of Life and Literature, Men, Manners, and Morals”, p.276

There is less flogging in our great schools than formerly-but then less is learned there; so what the boys get at one end they lose at the other.

Education, Learning, School

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 2, p. 407 (1775)

Sir, you must not neglect doing a thing immediately good from fear of remote evil; - from fear of its being abused.

Happiness, Evil, Neglect

"The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D". Book by James Boswell, 1791.

If we will have the kindness of others, we must endure their follies.

Happiness, Kindness, Endure

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

Idleness is often covered by turbulence and hurry. He that neglects his known duty and real employment naturally endeavours to crowd his mind with something that may bar out the remembrance of his own folly, and does any thing but what he ought to do with eager diligence, that he may keep himself in his own favour.

Happiness, Real, Remembrance

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

Since every man is obliged to promote happiness and virtue, he should be careful not to mislead unwary minds, by appearing to set too high a value upon things by which no real excellence is conferred.

Happiness, Real, Men

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy, Francis Pearson Walesby (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D..: The Rambler”, p.317

He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.

Happiness, Home, Wealth

1778 Remark,17 Apr. Quoted in James Boswell The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol.3.

What we read with inclination makes a much stronger impression. If we read without inclination, half the mind is employed in fixing the attention; so there is but one half to be employed on what we read.

Happiness, Reading, Mind

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.37

Life is barren enough surely with all her trappings; let us be therefore cautious of how we strip her.

Happiness, Life Is, Enough

Hester Lynch Piozzi, Samuel Johnson (1826). “Anecdotes of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. during the last twenty years of his life”, p.231

All severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle.

Happiness, Evil, 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.412

Every period of life is obliged to borrow its happiness from time to come.

Happiness, Life Is, Periods

Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.212

Philosophers there are who try to make themselves believe that this life is happy; but they believe it only while they are saying it, and never yet produced conviction in a single mind.

Happiness, Believe, Mind

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy, Francis Pearson Walesby (1825). “Essay on the life and genius of Dr. Johnson [by Arthur Murphy] Poems. Rasselas, prince of Abissinia. Letters”, p.348

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