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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 18

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

Life protracted is protracted woe.

Life protracted is protracted woe.

Woe, Longevity

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

In this work are exhibited, in a very high degree, the two most engaging powers of an author. New things are made familiar, and familiar things are made new.

Writing, Two, Degrees

Samuel Johnson (1787). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Together with His Life, and Notes on His Lives of the Poets, by Sir John Hawkins, Knt. In Eleven Volumes ...”, p.122

Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil.

Fear, Evil

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1801). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.”, p.353

Riches seldom make their owners rich.

Riches, Wealth, Rich

The triumph of hope over experience.

Marriage, Funny Love, Hope

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 1770)

The peculiar doctrine of Christianity is that of a universal sacrifice and perpetual propitiation.

Sacrifice, Doctrine, Peculiar

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.92

A voyage to the moon, however romantick and absurd the scheme may now appear, since the properties of air have been better understood, seemed highly probable to many of the aspiring wits in the last century

Moon, Air, May

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: with Murphy's essay”, p.15

Consider what importance to society the chastity of women is. Upon that all the property in the world depends. We hang a thief for stealing a sheep; but the unchastity of a woman transfers sheep and farm and all from the right owner.

Sheep, Thieves, World

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.237

There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.

Happiness, Art, Men

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.502

He that hopes to look back hereafter with satisfaction upon past years must learn to know the present value of single minutes, and endeavour to let no particle of time fall useless to the ground.

Fall, Past, Years

Samuel Johnson (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With Murphy's Essay”, p.506

He that would travel for the entertainment of others should remember that the great object of remark is human life.

Travel, Entertainment, Remember

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.264

Sir, sorrow is inherent in humanity. As you cannot judge two and two to be either five, or three, but certainly four, so, when comparing a worse present state with a better which is past, you cannot but feel sorrow. It is not cured by reason, but by the incursion of present objects, which bear out the past.

Past, Two, Judging

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.72

Diffidence may check resolution and obstruct performance, but compensates its embarrassments by more important advantages; it conciliates the proud, and softens the severe; averts envy from excellence, and censure from miscarriage.

Miscarriage, Envy, Excellence

Samuel Johnson, Hester Lynch Piozzi, James Boswell (1804). “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 works of Mrs. Piozzi;--his Life, recently published by Mr. Boswell, and other authentic testimonies; also his will, and the sermon he wrote for the late Doctor Dodd”, p.174

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.

Inspirational, Nature, Travel

Samuel Johnson (1812). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, L. L. D.: In Twelve Volumes”, p.318

There lurks, perhaps, in every human heart a desire of distinction, which inclines every man first to hope, and then to believe, that Nature has given him something peculiar to himself.

Being Yourself, Believe, Being Single

Samuel Johnson (1977). “Selected Poetry and Prose”, p.37, Univ of California Press

It is indeed certain, that whoever attempts any common topick, will find unexpected coincidences of his thoughts with those of other writers; nor can the nicest judgment always distinguish accidental similitude from artful imitation.

Writing, Unexpected, Common

Samuel Johnson (1827). “The Rambler”, p.209

He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions.

Wisdom, Courage, Passion

Samuel Johnson (1825). “The works of Samuel Johnson [ed. by F.P. Walesby].”, p.304

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him.

Life, Wise, Ambition

I am not so lost in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the sons of heaven.

Daughter, Art, Son

A Dictionary of the English Language preface (1755)

A man who exposes himself when he is intoxicated, has not the art of getting drunk.

Art, Men, Drunk

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 3, p. 389 (24 April 1779)

By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.

Travel, World, London

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1859). “The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides”, p.429

No cause more frequently produces bashfulness than too high an opinion of our own importance. He that imagines an assembly filled with his merit, panting with expectation, and hushed with attention, easily terrifies himself with the dread of disappointing them, and strains his imagination in pursuit of something that may vindicate the veracity of fame, and show that his reputation was not gained by chance.

Imagination, Expectations, Arrogance

Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). “The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752”, p.275

Life, to be worthy of a rational being, must be always in progression; we must always purpose to do more or better than in time past.

Past, Purpose, Progression

Samuel Johnson (1788). “Letters to and from the Late Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: To which are Added Some Poems Never Before Printed”, p.334

To have the management of the mind is a great art, and it may be attained in a considerable degree by experience and habitual exercise... Let him take a course of chemistry, or a course of rope-dance, or a course of any thing to which he is inclined at the time. Let him contrive to have as many retreats for his mind as he can, as many things to which it can fly from itself.

Happiness, Art, Exercise

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

Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance.

Design, Easy, Difficult

Samuel Johnson (1803). “The History of Rasselas, Etc. [With a Life of Dr. Johnson.]”, p.71

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