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Samuel Johnson Quotes about Inspirational

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 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 quotes 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

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Inspirational, Success, Respect

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

Samuel Johnson, Francis William Blagdon (1811). “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia”, p.42

Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.

Inspirational, Strength, Retirement

Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion.

Inspirational, Life, Inspiring

Samuel Johnson, Abraham Raimbach, Robert Smirke (1819). “Rasselas”, p.30

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

Inspirational, Friendship, Book

Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

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

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

Inspirational, Book, Writing

Quoted in William Seward, Biographia (1799)

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

The Irish are a fair people: They never speak well of one another.

Inspirational, People, Ireland And The Irish

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.290

If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.

Inspirational, Life, Motivational

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 1755)

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.

Inspirational, Teaching, Learning

Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 18 Apr. 1775)

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.

Inspirational, Nature, Travel

Samuel Johnson (1812). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, L. L. D.: In Twelve Volumes”, p.318

He who praises everybody, praises nobody.

Inspirational, Criticism, Flattery

Dr. Samuel Johnson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Johnson (Illustrated)”, p.8598, Delphi Classics

In all pleasures hope is a considerable part.

Inspirational, Hope, Hopeful

Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (1807). “Dr. Johnson's table-talk: aphorisms [&c.] selected and arranged from mr. Boswell's life of Johnson”, p.36

When speculation has done its worst, two and two still make four.

Inspirational, Humility, Two

The Idler

If lawyers were to undertake no causes till they were sure they were just, a man might be precluded altogether from a trial of his claim, though, were it judicially examined, it might be found a very just claim.

Inspirational, Motivational, Men

Samuel Johnson (2010). “Journey to the Hebrides: A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland & The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides”, p.173, Canongate Books

We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting.

Love, Inspirational, Life

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

Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying the advantages we expect from them.

Inspirational, Power, Expectations

Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for little matters.

Inspirational, Language Words, Plain Language

In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 1, p. 471 (6 August 1763, when Boswell said it would be 'terrible' if Johnson should not be able to return speedily from Harwich)

Quotation is the highest compliment you can pay an author.

Inspirational, Compliments You, Pay

He that teaches us anything which we knew not before is undoubtedly to be reverenced as a master.

Inspirational, Education, Teacher

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.9

Our desires always increase with our possessions. The knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed impairs our enjoyment of the good before us.

Inspirational, Self Improvement, Desire

Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1811). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, L. L. D.: In Twelve Volumes”, p.163

Genius is that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates.

Inspirational, Energy, Genius

Samuel Johnson (1810). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An essay on his life and genius”, p.169

That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own esteem.

Inspirational, Positive, Self Esteem

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

If, sir, men were all virtuous, I should with great alacrity teach them all to fly. But what would be the security of the good if the bad could at pleasure invade them from the sky? Against an army sailing through the clouds neither wall, nor mountains, nor seas could afford any security.

Inspirational, Funny, Wall

Samuel Johnson (2009). “Samuel Johnson: Selected Writings”, p.270, Harvard University Press

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