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Samuel Johnson Quotes about Soul

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

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

Samuel Johnson
Broken Heart, Heartache, Soul

Curiosity is the thirst of the soul.

Samuel Johnson
Soul, Curiosity, Thirst
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.154

Sir, if a man has a mind to prance, he must study at Christ Church and All Souls.

Samuel Johnson
Men, Soul, Mind
1769 Remark, Autumn. Quoted in James Boswell The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol.2.

Profuseness is a cruel and crafty demon, that gradually involves her followers in dependence and debt; that is, fetters them with irons that enter into their souls.

Samuel Johnson
Iron, Soul, Extravagance

It is our first duty to serve society, and after we have done that, we may attend wholly to the salvation of our own souls.

Samuel Johnson
Soul, Done, May
In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 2, p. 10 (February 1766)

In a Man's Letters you know, Madam, his soul lies naked, his letters are only the mirrour of his breast.

Samuel Johnson
Lying, Men, Soul
"The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume III: 1777-1781".

The life of a conscientious clergyman is not easy. I have always considered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is able to maintain. I would rather have chancery suits upon my hands than the cure of souls.

Samuel Johnson
Father, Hands, Soul
Samuel Johnson (1807). “Dr. Johnson's Table-talk: Containing Aphorisms on Literature, Life, and Manners, with Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, Selected and Arranged from Mr. Boswell's Life of Johnson”, p.50

The limbs will quiver and move after the soul is gone.

Samuel Johnson
Moving, Soul, Gone
Samuel Johnson (1836). “Johnsoniana: Or, Supplement to Boswell: Being Anecdotes and Sayings of Dr. Johnson”, p.311

I will take no more physick, not even my opiates; for I have prayed that I may render up my soul to God unclouded.

Samuel Johnson
Soul, Religion, Dying
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.409

Then with no throbs of fiery pain, No cold gradations of decay, Death broke at once the vital chain, And freed his soul the nearest way.

Samuel Johnson
Pain, Soul, Decay
On the death of Mr Levett, in James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 4, p. 139 (20 January 1782)

There are occasions on which it is noble to dare to stand alone. To be pious among infidels, to be disinterested in a time of general venality, to lead a life of virtue and reason in the midst of sensualists, is a proof of a mind intent on nobler things than the praise or blame of men, of a soul fixed in the contemplation of the highest good, and superiour to the tyranny of custom and example.

Samuel Johnson
Men, Soul, Individuality
Samuel Johnson (1810). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An essay on his life and genius”, p.287

The gratification of curiosity rather frees us from uneasiness than confers pleasure; we are more pained by ignorance than delighted by instruction. Curiosity is the thirst of the soul; it inflames and torments us, and makes us taste every thing with joy, however otherwise insipid, by which it may be quenched.

Samuel Johnson
Ignorance, Joy, Soul
Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1836). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: with an essay on his life and genius”, p.163

Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of stagnant life, and is remedied by exercise and motion.

Samuel Johnson
Exercise, Ideas, Soul
Samuel Johnson, William Page (1860). “Life and Writings”, p.210

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