Samuel Johnson Quotes
-
The trappings of a monarchy would set up an ordinary commonwealth.
-
It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability.
-
Sir, I think all Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, agree in the essential articles, and that their differences are trivial, and rather political than religious.
-
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.'
-
Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor.
-
The future is purchased by the present.
-
Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes,And pause a while from learning to be wise.There mark what ills the scholar's life assail - Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.
-
At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.
-
The law is the last result of human wisdom acting upon human experience for the benefit of the public.
-
Hell is paved with good intentions.
-
I had rather see the portrait of a dog that I know, than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.
-
Hawkesworth said of Johnson, 'You have a memory that would convict any author of plagiarism in any court of literature in the world.'
-
Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o'clock is a scoundrel.
-
You teach your daughters the diameters of the planets and wonder when you are done that they do not delight in your company.
-
Those who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.
-
Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea.
-
There are, in every age, new errors to be rectified, and new prejudices to be opposed.
-
Unmoved though Witlings sneer and Rivals rail, Studious to please, yet not ashamed to fail. He scorns the meek address, the suppliant strain. With merit needless, and without it vain. In Reason, Nature, Truth, he dares to trust: Ye Fops, be silent: and ye Wits, be just.
-
I am glad that he thanks God for anything.
-
We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting.
-
You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.
-
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.
-
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
-
Nothing flatters a man as much as the happiness of his wife; he is always proud of himself as the source of it.