Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Samuel Johnson Author

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: England
  • Born: Sep 18, 1709
  • Died: Dec 13, 1784

Samuel Johnson, often referred to as Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". He is also the subject of "the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature": James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.

Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, Johnson attended Pembroke College, Oxford for just over a year, before his lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher he moved to London, where he began to write for The Gentleman's Magazine. His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage, the poems "London" and "The Vanity of Human Wishes", and the play Irene.

After nine years of work, Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755. It had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been described as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". This work brought Johnson popularity and success.

You can't be in politics unless you can walk in a room and know in a minute who's for you and who's against you. politics

Man alone is born crying, lives complaining, and dies disappointed. alone

He that fails in his endeavors after wealth or power will not long retain either honesty or courage. courage & power

The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book. time

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. imagination

No money is better spent than what is laid out for domestic satisfaction. money

Friendship, like love, is destroyed by long absence, though it may be increased by short intermissions. friendship

A am a great friend of public amusements, they keep people from vice. great

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. birthday

There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money. money

Let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich. smile

It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust. trust

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. knowledge

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. truth

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not. power

The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef love, like being enlivened with champagne. friendship

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. good

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise. wisdom

There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern. happiness

The true art of memory is the art of attention. art

Leisure and curiosity might soon make great advances in useful knowledge, were they not diverted by minute emulation and laborious trifles. great & knowledge

Nothing flatters a man as much as the happiness of his wife he is always proud of himself as the source of it. happiness

Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance. design

Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true. best

No man was ever great by imitation. great

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. patriotism

Getting money is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life. business & money

Disease generally begins that equality which death completes. death & equality

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope. hope

The world is seldom what it seems to man, who dimly sees, realities appear as dreams, and dreams realities. dreams

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. courage

Prepare for death, if here at night you roam, and sign your will before you sup from home. death & home

I would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government other than another. It is of no moment to the happiness of an individual. government & happiness

Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable. music

Subordination tends greatly to human happiness. Were we all upon an equality, we should have no other enjoyment than mere animal pleasure. equality & happiness

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. time

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything. great

The future is purchased by the present. future

Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess. imagination

Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying the advantages we expect from them. great & power

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. great & nature

Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth. art, poetry & truth

Exercise is labor without weariness. fitness

In order that all men may be taught to speak the truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it. truth

It is better that some should be unhappy rather than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality. equality

Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives. marriage & men

All the arguments which are brought to represent poverty as no evil show it evidently to be a great evil. great

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. knowledge

To love one that is great, is almost to be great one's self. great

The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning. morning

Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions. society

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. great

Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little. nature, power & women

Power is not sufficient evidence of truth. power & truth

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. great & strength

To keep your secret is wisdom but to expect others to keep it is folly. wisdom

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence. hope

Treating your adversary with respect is striking soft in battle. respect

It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentionally lying that there is so much falsehood in the world. truth

All theory is against freedom of the will all experience for it. experience & freedom

No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. money

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. good

A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks Greek. good

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