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 29

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

Study requires solitude, and solitude is a state dangerous to those who are too much accustomed to sink into themselves

Study requires solitude, and solitude is a state dangerous to those who are too much accustomed to sink into themselves

Solitude, Too Much, Study

Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.185

In the description of night in Macbeth, the beetle and the bat detract from the general idea of darkness - inspissated gloom.

Night, Ideas, Darkness

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 2, p. 90 (16 October 1769)

Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt himself by telling what is not true.

Hurt, Behaviour, Telling The Truth

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.306

Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats, And ask no questions but the price of votes.

Tribes, Vote, Patriot

Oliver Goldsmith, Tobias Smollett, Samuel Johnson, William Shenstone (1861). “Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Tobias Smollett, Samuel Johnson and William Shenstone”

It is easy for a man who sits idle at home, and has nobody to please but himself, to ridicule or censure the common practices of mankind.

Home, Men, Practice

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

To me - the choice of life is become less important; I hope hereafter to think only on the choice of eternity.

Thinking, Choices, Important

Samuel Johnson (1830). “Rasselas: A tale”, p.159

He who sees different ways to the same end, will, unless he watches carefully over his own conduct, lay out too much of his attention upon the comparison of probabilities and the adjustment of expedients, and pause in the choice of his road, till some accident intercepts his journey.

Journey, Choices, Too Much

Samuel Johnson (1793). “The Rambler”, p.304

Credulity is the common failing of inexperienced virtue; and he who is spontaneously suspicious may justly be charged with radical corruption.

May, Common, Failing

Samuel Johnson (1848). “The Wisdom of the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.107

The difference between coarse and refined abuse is the difference between being bruised by a club and wounded by a poisoned arrow.

Differences, Arrows, Abuse

Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (1825). “The Table Talk of Dr. Johnson: Comprising Opinions and Anecdotes of Life and Literature, Men, Manners, and Morals”, p.160

We are easily shocked by crimes which appear at once in their full magnitude, but the gradual growth of our own wickedness, endeared by interest, and palliated by all the artifices of self-deceit, gives us time to form distinctions in our own favor

Self, Giving, Growth

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy, Francis Pearson Walesby (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D..: The Rambler”, p.37

Friendship, peculiar boon of Heaven, The noble mind's delight and pride, To men and angels only given, To all the lower world denied.

Angel, Pride, Men

Samuel Johnson (1820). “The Poems of Dr. Samuel Johnson. To which is Prefixed, a Life of the Author”, p.41

Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings.

Past, Thinking, Dignity

'A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland' (1775) 'Inch Kenneth'

Diligence in employments of less consequence is the most successful introduction to greater enterprises.

Successful, Employment, Diligence

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.180

The imitator treads a beaten walk, and with all his diligence can only find a few flowers or branches untouched by his predecessor, the refuse of contempt, or the omissions of negligence.

Flower, Omission, Branches

Samuel Johnson (1784). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes..”, p.182

When desperate ills demand a speedy cure, Distrust is cowardice, and prudence folly.

Demand, Desperate, Cowardice

Samuel Johnson (1809). “Works”, p.225

A certain amount of distrust is wholesome, but not so much of others as of ourselves; neither vanity not conceit can exist in the same atmosphere with it.

Vanity, Atmosphere, Conceit

A tavern chair is the throne of human felicity.

Thrones, Taverns, Chairs

Samuel Johnson (1977). “Selected Poetry and Prose”, p.13, Univ of California Press

All envy is proportionate to desire.

Envy, Desire

Samuel Johnson (1827). “The Rambler”, p.117

I wish there were some cure, like the lover's leap, for all heads of which some single idea has obtained an unreasonable and irregular possession.

Ideas, Wish, Lovers

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.20

Sir, there is no settling the point of precedency between a louse and a flea.

Fleas, Settling, Flea Markets

On the relative merits of two minor poets, in James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 192 (1783)

The lust of gold succeeds the rage of conquest; The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless! The last corruption of degenerate man.

Men, Lust, Gold

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: with Murphy's essay”, p.328

Guilt has always its horrors and solicitudes; and, to make it yet more shameful and detestable, it is doomed often to stand in awe of those to whom nothing could give influence or weight but their power of betraying.

Giving, Guilt, Weight

Samuel Johnson (1827). “The Rambler”, p.90

Like an image in a dream the world is troubled by love, hatred, and other poisons. So long as the dream lasts, the image appears to be real; but on awaking it vanishes.

Dream, Real, Long

The history of mankind is little else than a narrative of designs which have failed and hopes that have been disappointed.

History, Design, Littles

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1810). “The Works of Samuel Johnson”, p.398

A man should be careful never to tell tales of himself to his own disadvantage. People may be amused at the time, but they will be remembered, and brought out against him upon some subsequent occasion.

Honesty, Men, People

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 25 Mar. 1776)

You May Also Like: