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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 3

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Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.

Samuel Johnson
Love, Wise, Dream
In William Cooke 'Life of Samuel Foote' (1805) vol. 2, p. 154

Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties.

Samuel Johnson
Success, Work, Pleasure
Samuel Johnson (1848). “The Wisdom of the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.132

Liberty is, to the lowest rank of every nation, little more than the choice of working or starving.

Samuel Johnson
Choices, Liberty, Littles
'The Bravery of the English Common Soldier' in 'The British Magazine' January 1760 (Yale ed., vol. 10, p. 283)

Truth allows no choice.

Samuel Johnson
Truth, Choices
Samuel Johnson (1804). “The Lives of the Poets, Etc. [With a Portrait.]”, p.85

Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; and he may be properly charged with evil who refused to learn how he might prevent it.

Samuel Johnson
Ignorance, Evil, Criminals
Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson”, p.264

Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.

Samuel Johnson
Funny, Life, Being Yourself
1750-2 In The Rambler.

Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.

Samuel Johnson
Inspirational, Friendship, Book

Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives.

Samuel Johnson
Marriage, Men, Wife

No government power can be abused long. Mankind will not bear it.... There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government.

Samuel Johnson
Power, Government, Long
Samuel Johnson (1966). “Johnsonian miscellanies”, Constable

Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

Samuel Johnson
Inspirational, Happiness, Knowledge
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.16

A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse, not a remarkable mathematician.

Samuel Johnson
Horse, Animal, Mathematician

Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.

Samuel Johnson
Wise, Travel, Passion
James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1799). “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.103

Knock the 't' off the 'can't.'

Samuel Johnson
Confidence, Insightful

If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary be not idle.

Samuel Johnson
Advice, Solitude, Sloth
Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (letter to Boswell, 27 Oct. 1779)

A man's mind grows narrow in a narrow place.

Samuel Johnson
Travel, Men, Mind
James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.165

Sorrow is the mere rust of the soul. Activity will cleanse and brighten it.

Samuel Johnson
Broken Heart, Heartache, Soul

Such is the common process of marriage. A youth and maiden exchange meeting by chance, or brought together by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, go home, and dream of one another. Having little to divert attention, or diversify thought, they find themselves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore conclude that they shall be happy together. They marry, and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness had before concealed; they wear out life in altercations, and charge nature with cruelty.

Samuel Johnson
Marriage, Dream, Home
Samuel Johnson, Peter Martin (2009). “Samuel Johnson: Selected Writings”, p.310, Harvard University Press

The disturbers of our happiness, in this world, are our desires, our griefs, and our fears.

Samuel Johnson
Life, Happiness, Grief
"The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752".

A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit.

Samuel Johnson
Writing, Men, Political

Men who stand in the highest ranks of society seldom hear of their faults; if by any accident an opprobrious clamour reaches their ears, flattery is always at hand to pour in her opiates, to quiet conviction and obtund remorse.

Samuel Johnson
Men, Hands, Opiates
Samuel Johnson (1761). “The Rambler: In Four Volumes”, p.65

What ever the motive for the insult, it is always best to overlook it; for folly doesn't deserve resentment, and malice is punished by neglect.

Samuel Johnson
Revenge, Resentment, Insult

A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain.

Samuel Johnson
Family, Forgiveness, Wise
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.278

Grief is a species of idleness.

Samuel Johnson
Grief, Sorrow, Species
Letter to Mrs Thrale, 17 March 1773, in R. W. Chapman (ed.) 'The Letters of Samuel Johnson' (1952) vol. 1

Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments.

Samuel Johnson
Happiness, Success, Men
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.249

A contempt of the monuments and the wisdom of the past, may be justly reckoned one of the reigning follies of these days, to which pride and idleness have equally contributed.

Samuel Johnson
Pride, Past, May
Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Journey to the Hebrides. Tales of the imagination. Prayers and sermons. Index”, p.356

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