Authors:
  1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. S
  4. Samuel Johnson
  5. Evil

Samuel Johnson Quotes about Evil - Page 2

All Samuel Johnson 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 quotes 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
To scatter praise or blame without regard to justice is to destroy the distinction of good and evil. Many have no other test of actions than general opinion; and all are so far influenced by a sense of reputation that

To scatter praise or blame without regard to justice is to destroy the distinction of good and evil. Many have no other test of actions than general opinion; and all are so far influenced by a sense of reputation that they are often restrained by fear of reproach, and excited by hope of honour, when other principles have lost their power.

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

Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place where he is not known. Don't let him go to the devil, where he is known.

Samuel Johnson
Country, Evil, Let Him Go
In James Boswell 'Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides' (1785) 18 August 1773 (Boswell having asked if someone should commit suicide to avoid certain disgrace)

To grieve for evils is often wrong; but it is much more wrong to grieve without them. All sorrow that lasts longer than its cause is morbid, and should be shaken off as an attack of melancholy, as the forerunner of a greater evil than poverty or pain.

Samuel Johnson
Pain, Grieving, Evil
Samuel Johnson (2014). “The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume III: 1777-1781”, p.128, Princeton University Press

Sir, you must not neglect doing a thing immediately good from fear of remote evil; - from fear of its being abused.

Samuel Johnson
Happiness, Evil, Neglect
"The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D". Book by James Boswell, 1791.

All severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle.

Samuel Johnson
Happiness, Evil, Doe
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.412

The business of life is to go forward; he who sees evil in prospect meets it in his way, and he who catches it by retrospection turns back to find it. That which is feared may sometimes be avoided, but that which is regretted to-day may be regretted again to-morrow.

Samuel Johnson
Regret, Evil, May
Samuel Johnson, William Page (1860). “Life and Writings”, p.308

Some have little power to do good, and have likewise little strength to resist evil.

Samuel Johnson
Power, Evil, Littles
Samuel Johnson (1977). “Selected Poetry and Prose”, p.149, Univ of California Press

All this [wealth] excludes but one evil, poverty.

Samuel Johnson
Evil, Poverty, Wealth
"Life of Samuel Johnson". Book by James Boswell, 1777.

Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off.

Samuel Johnson
Evil, Secret, Vices
Samuel Johnson (1948). “The wisdom of Dr. Johnson: being comments on life and moral precepts chosen from his writings”

Falsehoods of convenience or vanity, falsehoods from which no evil immediately visible ensues, except the general degradation of human testimony, are very lightly uttered, and once uttered are sullenly supported.

Samuel Johnson
Vanity, Evil, Deceit
Samuel Johnson (2009). “The Lives of the Poets: A Selection”, p.219, OUP Oxford

You May Also Like: