Authors:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 16

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 greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book.

The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book.

Time, Powerful, Book

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 6 Apr. 1775)

I would advise you, Sir, to study algebra, if you are not an adept already in it: your head would get less muddy, and you will leave off tormenting your neighbours about paper and packthread, while we all live together in a world that is bursting with sin and sorrow.

Sorrow, Together, Would Be

"Johnsoniana, Or, Supplement to Boswell: Being Anecdotes and Sayings of Dr. Johnson".

Sir, I have no objection to a man's drinking wine, if he can do it in moderation. I found myself apt to go to excess in it, and therefore, after having been for some time without it, on account of illness, I thought it better not to return to it. Every man is to judge for himself, according to the effects which he experiences.

Drinking, Wine, Men

Samuel Johnson (1807). “Dr. Johnson's Table-talk: Containing Aphorisms on Literature, Life, and Manners, with Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, Selected and Arranged from Mr. Boswell's Life of Johnson”, p.42

Wine gives great pleasure, and every pleasure is of itself a good. and A man should cultivate his mind so as to have that confidence and readiness without wine, which wine gives.

Wine, Men, Giving

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

To love their country has been considered as virtue in men, whose love could not be otherwise than blind, because their preference was made without, a comparison; but it has never been my fortune to find, either in ancient or modern writers, any honourable mention of those, who have, with equal blindness, hated their country.

Country, Men, Ancient

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1840). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: Lives of the poets”, p.426

There are indeed, in the present corruption of mankind, many incitements to forsake truth: the need of palliating our own faults and the convenience of imposing on the ignorance or credulity of others so frequently occur; so many immediate evils are

Ignorance, Evil, Needs

Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). “The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752”, p.166

Discord generally operates in little things; it is inflamed ... by contrariety of taste oftener than principles.

Principles, Littles, Taste

Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.247

It is generally allowed, that no man ever found the happiness of possession proportionate to that expectation which incited his desire, and invigorated his pursuit; nor has any man found the evils of life so formidable in reality, as they were described to him by his own imagination; every species of distress brings with it some peculiar supports, some unforeseen means of resisting, or powers of enduring.

Mean, Reality, Men

Samuel Johnson (1848). “The Wisdom of the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.28

The equity of Providence has balanced peculiar sufferings with peculiar enjoyments.

Suffering, Peculiar, Providence

Samuel Johnson (1850). “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia: A Tale ; The Vision of Theodore ; The Fountains, a Fairy Tale”, p.32

He who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else.

Motivational, Fitness, Food

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 1, p. 467 (5 August 1763)

Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.

Book, Beer, Men

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 8 May 1781)

The worst evils are those that never arrive.

Evil, Worst

Of the blessings set before you make your choice, and be content.

Blessing, Choices

Samuel Johnson, Peter Martin (2009). “Samuel Johnson: Selected Writings”, p.312, Harvard University Press

The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love, like being enlivened with champagne.

Love, Friendship, Food

Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (1825). “The Table Talk of Dr. Johnson: Comprising Opinions and Anecdotes of Life and Literature, Men, Manners, and Morals”, p.175

Reproof should not exhaust its power upon petty failings.

Happiness, Advice, Failing

Samuel Johnson, Hester Lynch Piozzi, James Boswell (1787). “The Beauties of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Consisting of Maxims and Observations, Moral, Critical, and Miscellaneous, to which are Now Added, Biographical Anecdotes of the Doctor, Selected from the Late Productions of Mrs. Piozzi, Mr. Boswell, ...”, p.245

People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is greater in private life than other men.

Taken, Men, People

Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (1825). “The Table Talk of Dr. Johnson: Comprising Opinions and Anecdotes of Life and Literature, Men, Manners, and Morals”, p.20

History can be formed from permanent monuments and records; but lives can only be written from personal knowledge, which is growing every day less, and in a short time is lost forever.

Personal Knowledge, Forever, Records

Samuel Johnson (1821). “The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets: With Critical Observations on Their Works”, p.16

Admiration and love are like being intoxicated with champagne; judgment and friendship are like being enlivened.

And Love, Admiration, Judgment

No man can fall into contempt but those who deserve it.

Fall, Men, Contempt

Samuel Johnson (2011). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, Vols 11-13: Debates in Parliament”, p.342, Yale University Press

Unconstraint is the grace of conversation.

Grace, Conversation

Samuel Johnson (1848). “The Wisdom of the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.419

Gratitude is a species of justice.

Gratitude, Justice, Species

John Taylor, Samuel Johnson (1789). “Sermons on different subjects”, p.205

Wealth is nothing in itself; it is not useful but when it departs from us.

Wealth

Samuel Johnson (1848). “The Wisdom of the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.352

A man finds in the productions of nature an inexhaustible stock of material on which he can employ himself, without any temptations to envy or malevolence, and has always a certain prospect of discovering new reasons for adoring the sovereign author of the universe.

Nature, Men, Envy

Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). “The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752”, p.9

The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.

Writing, People, Glory

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1786). “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.156

Reason and truth will prevail at last

Truth Will Prevail, Lasts, Reason

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1801). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.”, p.340

You May Also Like: