Welcome to our collection of profound and insightful quotes by the esteemed Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson, an eminent English writer, poet, essayist, and lexicographer, left an indelible mark on English literature with his unparalleled wit, wisdom, and linguistic prowess. Born in 1709, Johnson’s literary contributions spanned various genres, from essays to poetry, and his enduring legacy continues to captivate readers worldwide.
Renowned for his keen observations on human nature, society, and the complexities of life, Johnson’s quotes resonate with timeless wisdom and intellectual depth. His eloquent prose and sharp wit have made him a revered figure in the literary world, with many of his aphorisms and maxims still quoted and celebrated today. As you delve into this compilation of Samuel Johnson quotes, prepare to be inspired, enlightened, and entertained by his astute reflections on the human condition and the intricacies of existence. Without further ado, let’s explore the profound words of Samuel Johnson that continue to enrich and enlighten us.
Paradise Lost is a book that, once put down, is very hard to pick up again. Samuel Johnson
Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o’clock is a scoundrel. Samuel Johnson
Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity. Samuel Johnson
You hesitate to stab me with a word, and know not – silence is the sharper sword. Samuel Johnson
To keep your secret is wisdom; but to expect others to keep it is folly. Samuel Johnson
The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love, like being enlivened with champagne. Samuel Johnson
Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. Samuel Johnson
From the middle of life onward, only he remains vitally alive who is ready to die with life. Samuel Johnson
Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment. Samuel Johnson
Love is only one of many passions. Samuel Johnson
To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity. Samuel Johnson
Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made it, the next wish is to change again. Samuel Johnson
Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise. Samuel Johnson
Of the blessings set before you make your choice, and be content. Samuel Johnson
Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. Samuel Johnson
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
Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test. Samuel Johnson
The return of my birthday, if I remember it, fills me with thoughts which it seems to be the general care of humanity to escape. Samuel Johnson
He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything. Samuel Johnson
I am a great friend of public amusements, they keep people from vice. Samuel Johnson
When making your choice in life, do not neglect to live. Samuel Johnson
At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest. Samuel Johnson
Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor. Samuel Johnson
To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labor tends, and of which every desire prompts the prosecution. Samuel Johnson
Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things to help rid us of our time, which will never return. Samuel Johnson
It is better to live rich than to die rich. Samuel Johnson
If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance. Samuel Johnson
Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged. Samuel Johnson
The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. Samuel Johnson
A man may be so much of everything that he is nothing of anything. Samuel Johnson
It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward it, though we know it can never be reached. Samuel Johnson
Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives. Samuel Johnson
The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Samuel Johnson
One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts. Samuel Johnson
Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true. Samuel Johnson
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. Samuel Johnson
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
The happiest conversation is that of which nothing is distinctly remembered, but a general effect of pleasing impression. Samuel Johnson
The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope. Samuel Johnson
Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable, and others extremely difficult. Samuel Johnson
By taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing that she made him so happy as a married man, that he wishes to be so a second time. Samuel Johnson
It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentionally lying that there is so much falsehood in the world. Samuel Johnson
I have always considered it as treason against the great republic of human nature, to make any man’s virtues the means of deceiving him. Samuel Johnson
No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library. Samuel Johnson
I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read. Samuel Johnson
No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. Samuel Johnson
A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. Samuel Johnson
Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own. Samuel Johnson
He who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else. Samuel Johnson
Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and… the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use. Samuel Johnson
Friendship, like love, is destroyed by long absence, though it may be increased by short intermissions. Samuel Johnson
Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good. Samuel Johnson
Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little. Samuel Johnson
Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned. Samuel Johnson
Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess. Samuel Johnson
A man ought to read just as inclination leads him, for what he reads as a task will do him little good. Samuel Johnson
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. Samuel Johnson
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. Samuel Johnson
The true art of memory is the art of attention. Samuel Johnson
It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust. Samuel Johnson
There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money. Samuel Johnson
In order that all men may be taught to speak the truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it. Samuel Johnson
Language is the dress of thought. Samuel Johnson
What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence. Samuel Johnson
When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. Samuel Johnson
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. Samuel Johnson
Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. Samuel Johnson
Exercise is labor without weariness. Samuel Johnson
There are charms made only for distant admiration. Samuel Johnson
Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven’t courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others. Samuel Johnson
Read over your compositions, and when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out. Samuel Johnson
The world is seldom what it seems; to man, who dimly sees, realities appear as dreams, and dreams realities. Samuel Johnson
All theory is against freedom of the will; all experience for it. Samuel Johnson
Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess. Samuel Johnson
Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable. Samuel Johnson
It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done. Samuel Johnson
It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability. Samuel Johnson
Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified. Samuel Johnson
Those who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms. Samuel Johnson
A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority. Samuel Johnson
There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain. Samuel Johnson
Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions. Samuel Johnson
He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts. Samuel Johnson
All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it. Samuel Johnson
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
He who praises everybody, praises nobody. Samuel Johnson
The future is purchased by the present. Samuel Johnson
By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show. Samuel Johnson
The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty. Samuel Johnson
The vanity of being known to be trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it. Samuel Johnson
To love one that is great, is almost to be great one’s self. Samuel Johnson
No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring. Samuel Johnson
I will be conquered; I will not capitulate. Samuel Johnson
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. Samuel Johnson
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
There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern. Samuel Johnson
You cannot spend money in luxury without doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them by spending it in luxury, than by giving it; for by spending it in luxury, you make them exert industry, whereas by giving it, you keep them idle. Samuel Johnson
Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. Samuel Johnson
Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment. Samuel Johnson
There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible. Samuel Johnson