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Samuel Johnson Quotes - Page 4

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

A man who both spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments.

A man who both spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments.

Money, Men, Happiest Man

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). “The Life of Samuel Johnson”, p.216

The wise man applauds he who he thinks most virtuous; the rest of the world applauds the wealthy.

Wise, Men, Thinking

No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company.

Funny, Army, Men

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 16 Mar. 1759)

When any calamity is suffered, the first thing to be remembered is, how much has been escaped.

Suffering, Tragedy, Firsts

"Johnsoniana: Or, Supplement to Boswell: Being Anecdotes and Sayings of Dr. Johnson".

Power is gradually stealing away from the many to the few, because the few are more vigilant and consistent.

Evil, Stealing, Consistent

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: with Murphy's essay”, p.17

The misery of man proceeds not from any single crush of overwhelming evil, but from small vexations continually repeated.

Crush, Men, Evil

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.181

From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend,- Path, motive, guide, original, and end.

Spring, Path, Originality

Samuel Johnson (1752). “The Rambler”, p.12

All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.

Country, Gratitude, Travel

Samuel Johnson, Hester Lynch Piozzi, James Boswell (1828). “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.278

I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.

Reading, Men, Political

Samuel Johnson (1836). “Johnsoniana; or supplement to Boswell; being Anecdotes and sayings of Dr. Johnson, etc”, p.118

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.

Inspirational, Book, Writing

Quoted in William Seward, Biographia (1799)

There must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence.

Fathers Day, Dad, Struggle

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.494

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Wisdom, Writing, Procrastination

Statement on April 14, 1775. "Life of Samuel Johnson". Book by James Boswell. Volume II, 1791.

The true art of memory is the art of attention.

Art, Memories, Attention

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.175

Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and... the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use.

Life, Use, Leisure

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1823). “The Works of Samuel Johnson: LL.D. A New Edition in Twelve Volumes. With an Essay on His Life and Genius, by Arthur Murphy, Esq”, p.118

The chief art of learning, as Locke has observed, is to attempt but little at a time. The widest excursions of the mind are made by short flights frequently repeated; the most lofty fabrics of science are formed by the continued accumulation of single propositions.

Art, Learning, Science

Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). “The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752”, p.237

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. Those that walk with vigor, three hours a day, will pass in seven years a space equal to the circumference of the globe.

Perseverance, Years, Space

Samuel Johnson (1856). “Rasselas”, p.29

Worth seeing, yes; but not worth going to see.

Travel, Journey, Inspiring Travel

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 12 Oct. 1779)

A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.

Fishing, Hook, Fool

Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment.

Progress, Desire, Want

Samuel Johnson (1798). “Dr. Johnson's Table Talk: Containing Aphorisms on Literature, Life, and Manners; with Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, Selected and Arranged from Dr. Boswell's Life of Johnson”, p.230

The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment. It is commonly observed, that among soldiers and seamen, though there is much kindness, there is little grief; they see their friend fall without any of that lamentation which is indulged in security and idleness, because they have no leisure to spare from the care of themselves; and whoever shall keep his thoughts equally busy will find himself equally unaffected with irretrievable losses.

Kindness, Grief, Fall

Samuel Johnson (1810). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.306

Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.

Inspirational, Education, Appreciation

Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1825). “The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752”, p.235

Marriage is the strictest tie of perpetual friendship, and there can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity; and he must expect to be wretched, who pays to beauty, riches, or politeness that regard which only virtue and piety can claim.

Marriage, Integrity, Ties

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1836). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: with an essay on his life and genius”, p.41

Sir, I have found you an argument; but I am not obliged to find you an understanding.

Found You, Understanding, Statistics

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for June 1784)

I had rather see the portrait of a dog that I know, than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.

Dog, Pain, Portraits

Quoted in Mrs Piozzi Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786).

He that wishes to see his country robbed of its rights cannot be a patriot.

Country, Rights, Wish

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy, Francis Pearson Walesby (1825). “Reviews, political tracts, and Lives of eminent persons”, p.221

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