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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 22

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

Some people have a foolish way of not minding, or pretending not to mind, what they eat. For my part, I mind my belly very studiously, and very carefully; for I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly will

Some people have a foolish way of not minding, or pretending not to mind, what they eat. For my part, I mind my belly very studiously, and very carefully; for I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else.

Food, Healing, Weight Loss

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

Much is due to those who first broke the way to knowledge, and left only to their successors the task of smoothing it.

Knowledge, Tasks, Way

Samuel Johnson (2010). “Journey to the Hebrides: A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland & The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides”, p.14, Canongate Books

Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures.

Marriage, Wedding, Pain

Rasselas ch. 26 (1759)

It is not possible to be regarded with tenderness, except by a few. That merit which gives greatness and renown diffuses its influence to a wide compass, but acts weakly on every single breast; it is placed at a distance from common spectators, and shines like one of the remote stars, of which the light reaches us, but not the heat.

Stars, Distance, Greatness

Samuel Johnson, Peter Martin (2009). “Samuel Johnson: Selected Writings”, p.217, Harvard University Press

Of all kinds of credulity, the most obstinate is that of party-spirit; of men, who, being numbered, they know not why, in any party, resign the use of their own eyes and ears, and resolve to believe nothing that does not favor those whom they profess to follow.

Party, Believe, Eye

Authors and lovers always suffer some infatuation, from which only absence can set them free.

Writing, Suffering, Lovers

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.258

It is wonderful to think how men of very large estates not only spend their yearly income, but are often actually in want of money. It is clear, they have not value for what they spend.

Money, Men, Thinking

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.163

The parallel circumstances and kindred images to which we readily conform our minds are, above all other writings, to be found in the lives of particular persons, and therefore no species of writing seems more worthy of cultivation than biography.

Writing, Mind, Biographies

Samuel Johnson (1810). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.382

The general remedy of those who are uneasy without knowing the cause is change of place.

Change, Knowing, Causes

Samuel Johnson (1793). “The Rambler”, p.12

This man [Chesterfield], I thought, had been a Lord among wits; but I find he is only a wit among Lords.

Men, Lord, Wit

"Bartlett's Familiar Quotations". Book by John Bartlett, 10th ed, Boswell's Life, vol. ii, ch. i, 1919.

Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement.

Wise, Witty, Business

'The Idler' no. 40 (20 January 1759)

Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable.

Music, Humorous, Thinking

Quoted in The Morning Chronicle, 1816.

Those who will not take the trouble to think for themselves, have always somebody that thinks for them; and the difficulty in writing is to please those from whom others learn to be pleased.

Writing, Thinking, Trouble

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

Cautious age suspects the flattering form, and only credits what experience tells.

Age, Credit, Form

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1840). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius /c by Arthur Murphy, Esq”, p.527

He that applauds him who does not deserve praise, is endeavoring to deceive the public; he that hisses in malice or sport, is an oppressor and a robber.

Sports, Doe, Praise

Samuel Johnson (1800). “The Idler: With Additional Essays”, p.86

It is surely very narrow policy that supposes money to be the chief good.

Chiefs, Policy, Avarice

Samuel Johnson (1804). “The beauties of Samuel Johnson: maxims and observations. To which are now added, biographical anecdotes of the doctor, his life [&c.].”, p.333

You despise a man for avarice; but you do not hate him.

Hate, Men, Despise

Bashfulness may sometimes exclude pleasure, but seldom opens any avenue to sorrow or remorse.

Sorrow, May, Sometimes

Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.285

The business of the biographer is often to pass slightly over those performances and incidents which produce vulgar greatness, to lead the thoughts into domestic privacies, and display the minute details of daily life, were exterior appendages are cast aside, and men excel each other only by prudence and virtue.

Greatness, Men, Details

Samuel Johnson (1840). “The Life and Writings of Samuel Johnson...”, p.260

All wonder is the effect of novelty on ignorance.

Ignorance, Novelty, Wonder

Perhaps man is the only being that can properly be called idle.

Men, Laziness, Idle

Samuel Johnson (1826). “The Rambler (1750-'52) a. the Idler (1758-'60)”

Apologies are seldom of any use.

Apology, Use

Samuel Johnson (2014). “The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume I: 1731-1772”, p.261, Princeton University Press

Admiration begins where acquaintance ceases

Admiration, Acquaintance, Cease

Samuel Johnson (1968). “Essays from the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.128, Yale University Press

Every man is, or hopes to be, an idler.

Men, Idlers, Every Man

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy, Francis Pearson Walesby (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D..: The Adventurer and Idler”, p.152

We are perpetually moralists, but we are geometricians only by chance. Our intercourse with intellectual nature is necessary; our speculations upon matter are voluntary, and at leisure.

Intellectual, Perception, Matter

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

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