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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 2

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

If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.

If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.

Motivational, Perseverance, Determination

Samuel Johnson (1834). “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia: A Tale”, p.14

Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.

Science, Belief, Favourite

Slander is the revenge of a coward, and dissimulation of his defense.

Revenge, Coward, Defense

John Hawkesworth, Samuel Johnson, Richard Bathurst, Joseph Warton (1793). “The Adventurer”, p.126

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

Samuel Johnson, Francis William Blagdon (1811). “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia”, p.42

Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little.

Nature, Women, Maturity

Letter to John Taylor, 18 Aug. 1763

In all pointed sentences, some degree of accuracy must be sacrificed to conciseness.

Writing, Degrees, Accuracy

'The Bravery of the English Common Soldier' in 'The British Magazine' January 1760 (Yale ed., vol. 10, p. 281)

The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion.

Fashion, Freedom, Majority

Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument.

Religion, Atheism, Prejudice

It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives.

Life, Men, Memorial

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 26 Oct. 1769)

There are two types of knowledge. One is knowing a thing. The other is knowing where to find it.

Two, Knowing, Type

Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.

Inspirational, Strength, Retirement

Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion.

Inspirational, Life, Inspiring

Samuel Johnson, Abraham Raimbach, Robert Smirke (1819). “Rasselas”, p.30

The really happy woman is the one who can enjoy the scenery when she has to take a detour. Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but rather a manner of traveling.

Detours, States, Enjoy

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.

Education, Honesty, Integrity

'Rasselas' (1759) ch. 41

A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.

Civilization, History, Political

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

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.

Success, Dance, Life And Love

Samuel Johnson (1831). “The Lives of the English Poets: With Critical Observations on Their Works and Lives of Sundry Eminent Persons”, p.47

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Carpe Diem, Men, Focus

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 19 Sept. 1777)

Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o'clock is a scoundrel.

Night, Thinking, Bed

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.211

If you want to be a writer, then write. Write every day!

Writing, Want, Ifs

Prejudice is a great time-saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. Prejudice not being founded on reason cannot be removed by argument.

Prejudice, Facts, Opinion

To preserve health is a moral and religious duty: for health is the basis of all social virtues; and we can be useful no longer than while we are well.

Religious, Health, Exercise

"The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume I: 1731-1772".

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.

Kindness, Waiting, Charity

It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.

Trust, Cheating, Pain

Samuel Johnson (1752). “The Rambler”, p.79

None but a fool worries about things he cannot influence.

Worry, Fool, Influence

People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.

Business, People, Needs

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