Samuel Johnson Quotes
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A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him.
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While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it.
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I am a great friend of public amusements, they keep people from vice.
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I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am afraid he is an attorney.
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There is in this world no real delight (excepting those of sensuality), but exchange of ideas in conversation.
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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!
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Let me rejoice in the light which Thou hast imparted; let me serve Thee with active zeal, humbled confidence, and wait with patient expectation for the time in which the soul which Thou receivest shall be satisfied with knowledge.
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A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,No dangers fright him, and no labors tire.
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The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honourable gentleman has with such spirit and decency charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny; but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience.
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The mind is never satisfied with the objects immediately before it, but is always breaking away from the present moment, and losing itself in schemes of future felicity... The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.
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This mournful truth is ev'rywhere confessed - Slow rises worth, by poverty depressed.
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Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.
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Treating your adversary with respect is striking soft in battle.
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PATRON, n. One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is repaid in flattery.
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All censure of a man's self is oblique praise. It is in order to shew how much he can spare.
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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.
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Books that you carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are most useful after all.
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There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman.
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What is easy is seldom excellent.
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That he delights in the misery of others no man will confess, and yet what other motive can make a father cruel?
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The only end of writing is to enable the readers better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.
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We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us.
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What makes all doctrines plain and clear? About two hundred pounds a year. And that which was proved true before, prove false again? Two hundred more.
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There are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking; as there are fruits that are not good until they are rotten.