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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 68

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

Every man is of importance to himself.

Every man is of importance to himself.

Men, Self, Importance

Few men survey themselves with so much severity as not to admit prejudices in their own favor.

Men, Self, Prejudice

Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.143

All the performances of human art, at which we look with praise or wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance.

Perseverance, Art, Looks

Samuel Johnson (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With Murphy's Essay”, p.207

The truth is that the spectators are always in their senses, and know, from the first act to the last, that the stage is only a stage, and that the players are only players.

Player, Theatre, Lasts

William Shakespeare, George Steevens, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, Mr Theobald (Lewis) (1805). “Dedication of the players. Preface of the players. Pope's preface. Theobald's preface. Hanmer's preface. Warburton's preface. Johnson's preface. Advertisement by Steevens. Capell's”, p.112

A merchant may, perhaps, be a man of an enlarged mind, but there is nothing in trade connected with an enlarged mind.

Men, Mind, May

Samuel Johnson (2010). “Journey to the Hebrides: A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland & The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides”, p.411, Canongate Books

Marriage is the best state for man in general, and every man is a worst man in proportion to the level he is unfit for marriage.

Marriage, Character, Men

I would consent to have a limb amputated to recover my spirits

Spirit, Limbs, Consent

Samuel Johnson, Robert ARMITAGE (1850). “Doctor Johnson: his religious life and his death. By the author of “Dr. Hookwell,” etc. [Robert Armitage].”, p.459

We owe to memory not only the increase of our knowledge, and our progress in rational inquiries, but many other intellectual pleasures

Memories, Intellectual, Progress

Samuel Johnson (1820). “The Rambler”, p.220

Attainment is followed by neglect, possession by disgust, and the malicious remark of the Greek epigrammatist on marriage may be applied to many another course of life, that its two days of happiness are the first and the last

Two, Achievement, Greek

Alexander Pope, William Lisle Bowles, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Chalmers, Gilbert Wakefield (1806). “The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq. in Verse and Prose: Containing the Principal Notes of Drs. Warburton and Warton: Illustrations, and Critical and Explanatory Remarks, by Johnson, Wakefield, A. Chalmers ... and Others; to which are Added, Now First Published, Some Original Letters, with Additional Observations, and Memoirs of the Life of the Author”, p.385

Those who have any intention of deviating from the beaten roads of life, and acquiring a reputation superior to names hourly swept away by time among the refuse of fame, should add to their reason and their spirit the power of persisting in their pur

Names, Add, Spirit

Samuel Johnson (1820). “The Rambler”, p.232

Time quickly puts an end to artificial and accidental fame

Fame, Ends, Artificial

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1857). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.141

Those who have no power to judge of past times but by their own, should always doubt their conclusions

Past, Judging, Doubt

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1857). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.35

In the bottle discontent seeks for comfort, cowardice for courage, and bashfulness for confidence.

Confidence, Comfort, Bottles

Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt (1854). “Johnson's Lives of the British Poets”, p.66

Confidence is a plant of slow growth; especially in an aged bosom

Confidence, Growth, Plant

I have no more pleasure in hearing a man attempting wit and failing, than in seeing a man trying to leap over a ditch and tumbling into it

Men, Trying, Tumbling

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.525

The present time is seldom able to fill desire or imagination with immediate enjoyment, and we are forced to supply its deficiencies by recollection or anticipation.

Past, Imagination, Desire

Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). “The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752”, p.344

Language is the dress of thought; and as the noblest mien or most graceful action would be degraded and obscured by a garb appropriated to the gross employments of rusticks or mechanics, so the most heroick sentiments will lose their efficacy

Dresses, Would Be, Employment

Samuel Johnson (1854). “Lives of the most eminent English poets, with critical observations on their works. With notes by P. Cunningham”, p.55

I should as soon think of contradicting a bishop

Thinking, Bishops, Contradicting

Dr. Samuel Johnson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Johnson (Illustrated)”, p.8562, Delphi Classics

I respect Millar, sir: he has raised the price of literature.

Literature, Raised

"The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides".

Justice is indispensably and universally necessary, and what is necessary must always be limited, uniform, and distinct

Justice, Uniforms

Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.142

Every man, however hopeless his pretensions may appear, has some project by which he hopes to rise to reputation; some art by which he imagines that the attention of the world will be attracted; some quality, good or bad, which discriminates him from the common herd of mortals, and by which others may be persuaded to love, or compelled to fear him.

Art, Men, Quality

Shakespeare never had six lines together without a fault. Perhaps you may find seven, but this does not refute my general assertion.

Together, Faults, Six

Samuel Johnson, Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh (1959). “Johnson on Shakespeare: Essays and Notes”

Was there ever yet anything written by mere man that was wished longer by its readers, excepting Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, and the Pilgrim's Progress?

Men, Progress, Robinson Crusoe

In Hester Lynch Piozzi 'Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson' (1786) p. 281

His most frequent ailment was the headache which he used to relieve by inhaling the steam of coffee.

Coffee, Headache, Used

I love the acquaintance of young people; because, in the first place, I do not like to think myself growing old. In the next place, young acquaintances must last longest, if they do last; and then, sir, young men have more virtue than old men; they have more generous sentiments in every respect.

Men, Thinking, People

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 1, p. 445 (21 July 1763)

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