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Samuel Johnson
363 quotes
“In misery's darkest cavern known, His useful care was ever nigh Where hopeless anguish pour'd his groan, And lonely want retir'd to die.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And sure th' Eternal Master found His single talent well employ'd.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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 (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (15 August 1773)
“I fancy mankind may come, in time, to write all aphoristically, except in narrative; grow weary of preparation, and connection, and illustration, and all those arts by which a big book is made.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (16 August 1773)
“A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (16 August 1773)
“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.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (31 August and 23 September 1773)
“I have, all my life long, been lying till noon; yet I tell all young men, and tell them with great sincerity, that nobody who does not rise early will ever do any good.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (14 September 1773)
“Wickedness is always easier than virtue; for it takes the short cut to everything.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (17 September 1773)
“Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (20 September 1773)
“A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (5 October 1773)
“Come, let me know what it is that makes a Scotchman happy!”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (23 October 1773)
“If the man who turnips cries, Cry not when his father dies, 'Tis a proof that he had rather Have a turnip than his father.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was a very good hater.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The law is the last result of human wisdom acting upon human experience for the benefit of the public.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is very strange, and very melancholy, that the paucity of human pleasures should persuade us ever to call hunting one of them.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drives into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is in this world no real delight (excepting those of sensuality), but exchange of ideas in conversation.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Was there ever yet any thing written by mere man that was wished longer by its readers, excepting Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, and the Pilgrim's Progress?”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sir, what is Poetry? Why, Sir, it is much easier to say what it is not. We all know what light is: but it is not easy to tell what it is.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1778 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to James Macpherson (20 June 1778). Quotation used as epigram to Władysław Tatarkiewicz, "Dwa pojęcia poezji" ("Two Concepts of Poetry"), in Tatarkiewicz's book, Parerga, Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 19…
“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) said by 1784 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1735 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1735)
“Tom Birch is as brisk as a bee in conversation; but no sooner does he take a pen in his hand than it becomes a torpedo to him, and benumbs all his faculties.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1743 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1743)
“I'll come no more behind your scenes, [[w:David Garrick|David [Garrick]]]; for the silk stockings and white bosoms of your actresses excite my amorous propensities.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1750 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal (1750)
“Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1754 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord Chesterfield (7 February 1754)
“[Of Lord Chesterfield] This man, I thought, had been a Lord among wits; but, I find, he is only a wit among Lords!”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1754 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1754)
“A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1754 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1754), p. 72 (n. 4)
“A lady once asked him how he came to define 'pastern', the knee of a horse: instead of making an elaborate defence, as might be expected, he at once answered, "Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1755 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1755), p. 82
“If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1755 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1755), p. 83
“Towering is the confidence of twenty-one.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1758 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (9 January 1758)
“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.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1759 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (March 1759) p. 97
“Small debts are like small shot; they are rattling on every side, and can scarcely be escaped without a wound; great debts are like cannon, of loud noise but little danger.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1759 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Joseph Simpson, c. 1759
“Nothing is little to him that feels it with great sensibility.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1762 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (20 July 1762)
“A man of genius has been seldom ruined but by himself.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1762 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (21 December 1762)
“Great abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention. Imagination is not required in any high degree; only about as much as is used in the lower kinds of poetry.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (6 July 1763) p. 120
“Norway, too, has noble wild prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (6 July 1763) p. 120
“A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (14 July 1763) p. 121
“But if he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (14 July 1763) p. 123
“I remember very well, when I was at Oxford, an old gentleman said to me, "Young man, ply your book diligently now, and acquire a stock of knowledge; for when years come upon you, you will find that poring upon books will be but an irksome task.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (21 July 1763) p. 126
“Hume, and other sceptical innovators, are vain men, and will gratify themselves at any expence. Truth will not afford sufficient food to their vanity; so they have betaken themselves to errour. Truth, Sir, is a cow which will yield such people no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bull. If I could have allowed myself to gratify my vanity at the expence of truth, what fame might I have acquired.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (21 July 1763) p 514
“Sherry is dull, naturally dull; but it must have taken him a great deal of pains to become what we now see him. Such an excess of stupidity, sir, is not in Nature.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (28 July 1763) p. 128
“Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (31 July 1763) p. 132. [Several editions have the variant "hind legs".]
“I [Boswell] happened to say, it would be terrible if he should not find a speedy opportunity of returning to London, and be confined in so dull a place. JOHNSON: "Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for little matters. It would not be terrible, though I were to be detained some time here.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (6 August 1763) p. 134
“I refute it thus.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (6 August 1763) p. 134
“Why, Sir, it is difficult to settle the proportion of iniquity between them.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1766 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (15 February 1766) p. 145
“So far is it from being true that men are naturally equal, that no two people can be half an hour together, but one shall acquire an evident superiority over the other.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1766 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (15 February 1766) p. 145
“Shakspeare never has six lines together without a fault. Perhaps you may find seven: but this does not refute my general assertion.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1769 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (19 October 1769) p. 170
“It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1769 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (26 October 1769) p. 174
“That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) first seen 1770 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1770) p. 181