Samuel Johnson, often referred to as Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. Profoundly inspirational Samuel Johnson quotes will challenge the way you think, change the way you live and transform your whole life.
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Famous Samuel Johnson Quotes
Our minds, like our bodies, are in continual flux; something is hourly lost, and something acquired… Do not suffer life to stagnate; it will grow muddy for want of motion: commit yourself again to the current of the world. – Samuel Johnson
In most ages many countries have had part of their inhabitants in a state of slavery; yet it may be doubted whether slavery can ever be supposed the natural condition of man. It is impossible not to conceive that men in their original state were equal; and very difficult to imagine how one would be subjected to another but by violent compulsion. An individual may, indeed, forfeit his liberty by a crime; but he cannot by that crime forfeit the liberty of his children. – Samuel Johnson
Exercise is labor without weariness. – Samuel Johnson
My dear friend, clear your mind of can’t. – Samuel Johnson
See nations slowly wise, and meanly just, to buried merit raise the tardy bust. – Samuel Johnson
Wealth is nothing in itself; it is not useful but when it departs from us. – Samuel Johnson
If we estimate dignity by immediate usefulness, agriculture is undoubtedly the first and noblest science. – Samuel Johnson
A man’s mind grows narrow in a narrow place. – Samuel Johnson
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. – 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
Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it. It should not be suffered to tyrannize in the imagination, to raise phantoms of horror, or to beset life with supernumerary distresses. – Samuel Johnson
To write is, indeed, no unpleasing employment, when one sentiment readily produces another, and both ideas and expressions present themselves at the first summons; but such happiness, the greatest genius does not always obtain; and common writers know it only to such a degree, as to credit its possibility. Composition is, for the most part, an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the mind is dragged by necessity or resolution, and from which the attention is every moment starting to more delightful amusements. – Samuel Johnson
The fortitude which has encountered no dangers, that prudence which has surmounted no difficulties, that integrity which has been attacked by no temptation, can at best be considered but as gold not yet brought to the test, of which therefore the true value cannot be assigned. – Samuel Johnson
He that fails in his endeavors after wealth or power will not long retain either honesty or courage. – Samuel Johnson
There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. – Samuel Johnson
Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it. – Samuel Johnson
It is observed of gold, by an old epigrammatist, that to have it is to be in fear, and to want it is to be in sorrow. – Samuel Johnson
Reason and truth will prevail at last – Samuel Johnson
No government power can be abused long. Mankind will not bear it…. There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government. – Samuel Johnson
He that is already corrupt is naturally suspicious, and he that becomes suspicious will quickly become corrupt. – Samuel Johnson
Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little. – Samuel Johnson
The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion. – Samuel Johnson
To fix the thoughts by writing, and subject them to frequent examinations and reviews, is the best method of enabling the mind to detect its own sophisms, and keep it on guard against the fallacies which it practices on others – Samuel Johnson
Criticism, though dignified from the earliest ages by the labours of men eminent for knowledge and sagacity, has not yet attained the certainty and stability of science. – Samuel Johnson
Women have two weapons – cosmetics and tears – Samuel Johnson
I have always said the first Whig was the Devil. – Samuel Johnson
Assertion is not argument; to contradict the statement of an opponent is not proof that you are correct. – Samuel Johnson
The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down. – Samuel Johnson
Language is the dress of thought; every time you talk your mind is on parade. – Samuel Johnson
Some people have a foolish way of not minding, or pretending not to mind, what they eat. For my part, I mind my belly very studiously, and very carefully; for I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else. – Samuel Johnson
He that wishes to see his country robbed of its rights cannot be a patriot. – Samuel Johnson
Order is a lovely nymph, the child of Beauty and Wisdom; her attendants are Comfort, Neatness, and Activity; her abode is the valley of happiness: she is always to be found when sought for, and never appears so lovely as when contrasted with her opponent, Disorder. – Samuel Johnson
Life is but short; no time can be afforded but for the indulgence of real sorry, or contests upon questions seriously momentous. Let us not throw away any of our days upon useless resentment, or contend who shall hold out longest in stubborn malignity. It is best not to be angry; and best, in the next place, to be quickly reconciled. – Samuel Johnson
Books have always a secret influence on the understanding. – Samuel Johnson
I know not any crime so great that a man could contrive to commit as poisoning the sources of eternal truth. – Samuel Johnson
None but a fool worries about things he cannot influence. – Samuel Johnson
Knock the ‘t’ off the ‘can’t.’ – Samuel Johnson
All intellectual improvement arises from leisure. – Samuel Johnson
Guilt once harbored in the conscious breast, intimidates the brave, degrades the great. – Samuel Johnson
You can never be wise unless you love reading. – Samuel Johnson
He that travels in theory has no inconveniences. – Samuel Johnson
It is indeed certain, that whoever attempts any common topick, will find unexpected coincidences of his thoughts with those of other writers; nor can the nicest judgment always distinguish accidental similitude from artful imitation. – Samuel Johnson
Your aspirations are your possibilities. – Samuel Johnson
The task of an author is, either to teach what is not known, or to recommend known truths by his manner of adorning them; either to let new light in upon the mind, and open new scenes to the prospect, or to vary the dress and situation of common objects, so as to give them fresh grace and more powerful attractions, to spread such flowers over the regions through which the intellect has already made its progress, as may tempt it to return, and take a second view of things hastily passed over, or negligently regarded. – Samuel Johnson
We go from anticipation to anticipation, not from satisfaction to satisfaction. – Samuel Johnson
When men come to like a sea-life, they are not fit to live on land. – Samuel Johnson
Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present. – Samuel Johnson
Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument. – Samuel Johnson
Disease generally begins that equality which death completes; the distinctions which set one man so much above another are very little perceived in the gloom of a sick chamber, where it will be vain to expect entertainment from the gay, or instruction from the wise; where all human glory is obliterated, the wit is clouded, the reasoner perplexed, and the hero subdued; where the highest and brightest of mortal beings finds nothing left him but the consciousness of innocence. – Samuel Johnson
Quotation is a good thing, there is a community of thought in it. – Samuel Johnson
Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. – Samuel Johnson
I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read. – Samuel Johnson
Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not. – Samuel Johnson
In all pleasures hope is a considerable part. – Samuel Johnson
Hope itself is a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords; but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain. – Samuel Johnson
Employment and hardships prevent melancholy. – Samuel Johnson
When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency. – Samuel Johnson
Life, to be worthy of a rational being, must be always in progression; we must always purpose to do more or better than in time past. – Samuel Johnson
Parents are by no means exempt from the intoxication of dominion. – Samuel Johnson
In general those parents have the most reverence who most deserve it; for he that lives well cannot be despised. – Samuel Johnson
Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. – Samuel Johnson
While an author is yet living, we estimate his powers by his worst performance; and when he is dead, we rate him by his best. – Samuel Johnson
In sovereignty there are no gradations. – Samuel Johnson
A person loves to review his own mind. That is the use of a diary, or journal. – Samuel Johnson
The love of life is necessary to the vigorous prosecution of any undertaking – Samuel Johnson
We are more pained by ignorance than delighted by instruction. – Samuel Johnson
Misery and shame are nearly allied. – Samuel Johnson
The really happy woman is the one who can enjoy the scenery when she has to take a detour. Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but rather a manner of traveling. – Samuel Johnson
A successful author is equally in danger of the diminution of his fame, whether he continues or ceases to write. The regard of the public is not to be kept but by tribute, and the remembrance of past service will quickly languish unless successive performances frequently revive it. Yet in every new attempt there is new hazard, and there are few who do not, at some unlucky time, injure their own characters by attempting to enlarge them. – Samuel Johnson
We have less reason to be surprised or offended when we find others differ from us in opinion, because we very often differ from ourselves. – Samuel Johnson
Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no – Samuel Johnson
The highest panegyric, therefore, that private virtue can receive, is the praise of servants. – Samuel Johnson
Life consists not of a series of illustrious actions or elegant enjoyments. The greater part of our time passes in compliance with necessities, in the performance of daily duties, in the removal of small inconveniences, in the procurement of petty pleasures; and we are well or ill at ease, as the main stream of life glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by small obstacles and frequent interruption. – Samuel Johnson
Poverty has, in large cities, very different appearances; it is often concealed in splendour, and often in extravagance. – Samuel Johnson
The disturbers of our happiness, in this world, are our desires, our griefs, and our fears. – Samuel Johnson
Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. – Samuel Johnson
To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity; the next is, to strive, and deserve to conquer: but he whose life has passed without a contest, and who can boast neither success nor merit, can survey himself only as a useless filler of existence; ad if he is content with his own character, must owe his satisfaction to insensibility. – 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
There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful. – Samuel Johnson
As the mind must govern the hands, so in every society the man of intelligence must direct the man of labor. – Samuel Johnson
No one is much pleased with a companion who does not increase, in some respect, their fondness for themselves. – Samuel Johnson
With an unquiet mind, neither exercise, nor diet, nor physick can be of much use. – Samuel Johnson
When there is no hope, there can be no endeavor. – Samuel Johnson
Power is gradually stealing away from the many to the few, because the few are more vigilant and consistent. – Samuel Johnson
The mental disease of the present generation is impatience of study, contempt of the great masters of ancient wisdom, and a disposition to rely wholly upon unassisted genius and natural sagacity. – Samuel Johnson
Judgment is forced upon us by experience – Samuel Johnson
He who praises everybody, praises nobody. – Samuel Johnson
It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. – Samuel Johnson
I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works. – Samuel Johnson
All wonder is the effect of novelty on ignorance. – Samuel Johnson
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. – Samuel Johnson
The resolution of the combat is seldom equal to the vehemence of the charge. – Samuel Johnson
A man who both spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments. – Samuel Johnson
The power of punishment is to silence, not to confute. – Samuel Johnson
Shakespeare never had more than 6 lines together without a fault. – Samuel Johnson
A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority. – Samuel Johnson
A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse, not a remarkable mathematician. – Samuel Johnson
The longer we live the more we think and the higher the value we put on friendship and tenderness towards parents and friends. – Samuel Johnson
There are two types of knowledge. One is knowing a thing. The other is knowing where to find it. – Samuel Johnson
Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged. – Samuel Johnson
Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise. – Samuel Johnson
The wise man applauds he who he thinks most virtuous; the rest of the world applauds the wealthy. – Samuel Johnson
All power of fancy over reason is a degree of madness. – Samuel Johnson
Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; and he may be properly charged with evil who refused to learn how he might prevent it. – Samuel Johnson
To buried merit rise the tardy bust. – Samuel Johnson
He that outlives a wife whom he has long loved, sees himself disjoined from the only mind that has the same hopes, and fears, and interest; from the only companion with whom he has shared much good and evil; and with whom he could set his mind at liberty, to retrace the past or anticipate the future. The continuity of being is lacerated; the settled course of sentiment and action is stopped; and life stands suspended and motionless. – Samuel Johnson
As he that lives longest lives but a little while, every man may be certain that he has no time to waste. The duties of life are commensurate to its duration; and every day brings its task, which, if neglected, is doubled on the morrow. – Samuel Johnson
Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don’t think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire. – Samuel Johnson
Riches seldom make their owners rich. – Samuel Johnson
The first step to greatness is to be honest. – Samuel Johnson
The future is purchased by the present. – Samuel Johnson
A mere literary man is a dull man; a man who is solely a man of business is a selfish man; but when literature and commerce are united, they make a respectable man. – Samuel Johnson
Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor. – Samuel Johnson
To neglect at any time preparation for death is to sleep on our post at a siege; to omit it in old age is to sleep at an attack. – Samuel Johnson
Deceit and falsehood, whatever conveniences they may for a time promise or produce, are, in the sum of life, obstacles to happiness. Those who profit by the cheat distrust the deceiver; and the act by which kindness was sought puts an end to confidence. – Samuel Johnson
A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him. – Samuel Johnson
Laws teach us to know when we commit injury and when we suffer it. – Samuel Johnson
The synonyme of usury is ruin. – Samuel Johnson
Many of our miseries are merely comparative: we are often made unhappy, not by the presence of any real evil, but by the absence of some fictitious good; of something which is not required by any real want of nature, which has not in itself any power of gratification, and which neither reason nor fancy would have prompted us to wish, did we not see it in the possession of others. – Samuel Johnson
Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess. – Samuel Johnson
Power is not sufficient evidence of truth. – Samuel Johnson
You hesitate to stab me with a word, and know not – silence is the sharper sword. – Samuel Johnson
Never trust your tongue when your heart is bitter. – Samuel Johnson
Whoever envies another confesses his superiority. – Samuel Johnson
He that will enjoy the brightness of sunshine, must quit the coolness of the shade. – Samuel Johnson
Before dinner men meet with great inequality of understanding. – Samuel Johnson
There is certainly no greater happiness than to be able to look back on a life usefully and virtuously employed, to trace our own progress in existence, by such tokens as excite neither shame nor sorrow. – Samuel Johnson
The triumph of hope over experience. – Samuel Johnson
How many may a man of diffusive conversation count among his acquaintances, whose lives have been signalized by numberless escapes; who never cross the river but in a storm, or take a journey into the country without more adventures than befel the knights-errant of ancient times in pathless forests or enchanted castles! How many must he know, to whom portents and prodigies are of daily occurrence; and for whom nature is hourly working wonders invisible to every other eye, only to supply them with subjects of conversation? – Samuel Johnson
To preserve health is a moral and religious duty: for health is the basis of all social virtues; and we can be useful no longer than while we are well. – Samuel Johnson
Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. – Samuel Johnson
When any calamity is suffered, the first thing to be remembered is, how much has been escaped. – Samuel Johnson
A vow is a snare for sin. – Samuel Johnson
What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence. – Samuel Johnson
Pound St. Paul’s Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms together, and you have St. Paul’s Church. So it is with human felicity, which is made up of many ingredients, each of which may be shown to be very insignificant. – Samuel Johnson
I am not so lost in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the sons of heaven. – Samuel Johnson
He that embarks on the voyage of life will always wish to advance rather by the impulse of the wind than the strokes of the oar; and many fold in their passage; while they lie waiting for the gale. – Samuel Johnson
The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope. – Samuel Johnson
Indolence is the devil’s cushion. – Samuel Johnson
Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea. – Samuel Johnson
A translator is to be like his author; it is not his business to excel him. – Samuel Johnson
How small of all that human hearts endure/That part which laws or kings can cause or cure. – Samuel Johnson
He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything. – Samuel Johnson
At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest. – Samuel Johnson
The business of life is to go forward. – Samuel Johnson
The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it. – Samuel Johnson
