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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 17

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

A writer who obtains his full purpose loses himself in his own lustre.

A writer who obtains his full purpose loses himself in his own lustre.

Writing, Purpose, Loses

Samuel Johnson (1851). “The beauties of Johnson: choice selections from his works”, p.6

The round of a passionate man's life is in contracting debts in his passion, which his virtue obliges him to pay. He spends his time in outrage and acknowledgment, injury and reparation.

Anger, Passion, Men

The common people do not accurately adapt their thoughts to objects; nor, secondly, do they accurately adapt their words to their thoughts; they do not mean to lie; but, taking no pains to be exact, they give you very false accounts. A great part of their language is proverbial; if anything rocks at all, they say it rocks like a cradle; and in this way they go on.

Pain, Lying, Mean

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.133

Depend upon it, sir, it is when you come close to a man in conservation that you discover what his real abilities are; to make a speech in a public assembly is a knack.

Real, Men, Knack

Always, Sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness.

Kindness, Spontaneous, Values

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 115 (May 1781)

Lichfield, England. Swallows certainly sleep all winter. A number of them conglobulate together, by flying round and round, and then all in a heap throw themselves under water, and lye in the bed of a river.

Sleep, Winter, Rivers

I had done all that I could, and no Man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.

Men, Done, Littles

Letter to Lord Chesterfield, in James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 1, p. 261 (7 February 1755)

We seldom learn the true want of what we have till it is discovered that we can have no more.

Happiness, Want

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With Murphy's Essay”, p.678

Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. Every advance into knowledge opens new prospects, and produces new incitements to farther progress.

Happiness, Curiosity, Progress

Samuel Johnson, William Page (1860). “Life and Writings”, p.37

A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.

Book, Reading, Writing

Hope is necessary in every condition.

Hope, Anticipation, Conditions

The Rambler No. 67

No man was more foolish when he had not a pen in his hand, or more wise when he had

Wise, Men, Hands

On Oliver Goldsmith, in James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 29 (1780).

There are some works which the authors must consign unpublished to posterity, however uncertain be the event, however hopeless be the trust. He that writes the history of his own times, if he adhere steadily to truth, will write that which his own times will not easily endure. He must be content to reposite his book till all private passions shall cease, and love and hatred give way to curiosity.

Book, Passion, Writing

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.261

In the condition of men, it frequently happens that grief and anxiety lie hid under the golden robes of prosperity; and the gloom of calamity is cheered by secret radiations of hope and comfort; as in the works of nature, the bog is sometimes covered with flowers, and the mine concealed in the barren crags.

Lying, Flower, Grief

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: with Murphy's essay”, p.33

Words are but the signs of ideas.

Ideas

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

The usual fortune of complaint is to excite contempt more than pity.

Usual, Complaining, Pity

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.48

Always, Sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. he whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you.

Friendship, Pain, Kindness

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 115 (May 1781)

Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present.

Debt, Flattery, Praise

Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.265

Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will find it a calamity.

Advice, Debt, Calamity

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.110

In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it; for no species of falsehood is more frequent than flattery, to which the coward is betrayed by fear, the dependent by interest, and the friend by tenderness: those who are neither servile nor timorous are yet desirous to bestow pleasure; and, while unjust demands of praise continue to be made, there will always be some whom hope, fear, or kindness will dispose to pay them.

Kindness, Men, Order

Samuel Johnson (1797). “The Beauties of Samuel Johnson, Etc. (A New Edition, Being the Ninth.).”, p.101

Those that have done nothing in life, are not qualified to judge of those that have done little

Judging, Done, Littles

Samuel Johnson (1819). “The Beauties of Samuel Johnson: Consisting of Maxims and Observations, Moral, Critical, and Miscellaneous”, p.142

Truth, Sir, is a cow which will yield such people no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bull.

Truth, Yield, People

1763 Of sceptics. Remark, 21 Jul. Quoted in James Boswell The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol.1.

A man ought to read just as inclination leads him, for what he reads as a task will do him little good.

Education, Reading, Men

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (entry for 14 July 1763)

Virtue is too often merely local.

Virtue, Locals

Samuel Johnson (1819). “The Beauties of Samuel Johnson: Consisting of Maxims and Observations, Moral, Critical, and Miscellaneous”, p.284

A book should teach us to enjoy life, or to endure it.

Book, Enjoy Life, Should

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