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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 70

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

It is generally agreed, that few men are made better by affluence or exaltation.

It is generally agreed, that few men are made better by affluence or exaltation.

Money, Men, Exaltation

Samuel Johnson (1784). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes..”, p.67

It is as bad as bad can be: it is ill-fed, ill-killed, ill-kept, and ill-drest.

Food, Feds, Ill

On the roast mutton he had been served at an inn, in James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 284 (3 June 1784)

Novelty is indeed necessary to preserve eagerness and alacrity; but art and nature have stores inexhaustible by human intellects, and every moment produces something new to him who has quickened his faculties by diligent observation.

Life, Art, Novelty

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1837). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius /c by Arthur Murphy, Esq”, p.195

As a madman is apt to think himself grown suddenly great, so he that grows suddenly great is apt to borrow a little from the madman.

Greatness, Thinking, Littles

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.96

Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off.

Evil, Secret, Vices

Samuel Johnson (1948). “The wisdom of Dr. Johnson: being comments on life and moral precepts chosen from his writings”

Extended empires are like expanded gold, exchanging solid strength for feeble splendor.

Focus, Gold, Empires

Friendship is not always the sequel of obligation.

Friendship, Obligation, Sequels

'The Lives of the English Poets' (1779-81) 'James Thomson'

Cunning has effect from the credulity of others, rather than from the abilities of those who are cunning. It requires no extraordinary talents to lie and deceive.

Lying, Deceit, Talent

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Robert Carruthers (1852). “The journal of a tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D.”, p.171

All imposture weakens confidence and chills benevolence.

Deceit, Chill, Benevolence

Samuel Johnson (1796). “Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia ... A new edition, with engravings”, p.211

Falsehoods of convenience or vanity, falsehoods from which no evil immediately visible ensues, except the general degradation of human testimony, are very lightly uttered, and once uttered are sullenly supported.

Vanity, Evil, Deceit

Samuel Johnson (2009). “The Lives of the Poets: A Selection”, p.219, OUP Oxford

The happiness of building lasted but a little while, for though I love to spend, I hate to be cheated; and I soon found, that to build is to be robbed.

Hate, Deceit, Found

"The Idler: With Additional Essays".

What signifies protesting so against flattery when a person speaks well of one, it must either be true or false, you know if true, let us rejoice in his good opinion if he lies, it is a proof at least that he loves more to please me, than to sit s

Lying, Please Me, True Or False

Samuel Johnson (1836). “Johnsoniana: Or, Supplement to Boswell: Being Anecdotes and Sayings of Dr. Johnson”, p.58

Lawyers know life practically. A bookish man should always have them to converse with.

Men, Law, Should

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.206

The most fatal disease of friendship is gradual decay, or dislike hourly increased by causes too slender for complaint, and too numerous for removal.

Funny, Friendship, Humor

Samuel Johnson (1848). “The Wisdom of the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.273

Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of stagnant life, and is remedied by exercise and motion.

Exercise, Ideas, Soul

Samuel Johnson, William Page (1860). “Life and Writings”, p.210

That eminence of learning is not to be gained without labour, at least equal to that which any other kind of greatness can require, will be allowed by those who wish to elevate the character of a scholar; since they cannot but know that every human acquisition is valuable in proportion to the difficulty of its attainment.

Character, Greatness, Effort

Samuel Johnson (1810). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.139

A cow is a very good animal in the field; but we turn her out of a garden.

Animal, Garden, Cows

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.172

This merriment of parsons is mighty offensive.

Church, Offensive, Merriment

James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 76 (March 1781)

Nay, Madam, when you are declaiming, declaim; and when you are calculating, calculate.

Sincerity, Calculating

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.29

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