Samuel johnson quotes

No man was ever great by imitation.

A man who both spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments.

[W]ith an unquiet mind, neither exercise, nor diet, nor physick can be of much use.

Curiosity is the thirst of the soul.

Knock the 't' off the 'can't.'

Our aspirations are our possibilities.

When any calamity is suffered, the first thing to be remembered is, how much has been escaped.

Never trust your tongue when your heart is bitter.

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

None but a fool worries about things he cannot influence.

The true art of memory is the art of attention.

The misery of man proceeds not from any single crush of overwhelming evil, but from small vexations continually repeated.

Quotation is a good thing, there is a community of thought in it.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend,- Path, motive, guide, original, and end.

It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives.

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

Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments.

What is easy is seldom excellent.

There must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence.

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

Indolence is the devil's cushion.

Language is the dress of thought; every time you talk your mind is on parade.

To be free it is not enough to beat the system, one must beat the system every day

Slander is the revenge of a coward, and dissimulation of his defense.

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.

People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.

Grief is a species of idleness.

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.

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

Truth allows no choice.

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.

Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; and he may be properly charged with evil who refused to learn how he might prevent it.

A man's mind grows narrow in a narrow place.

When making your choice in life, do not neglect to live.

Worth seeing, yes; but not worth going to see.

Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

The habit of looking on the bright side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year.

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

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

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. Those that walk with vigor, three hours a day, will pass in seven years a space equal to the circumference of the globe.

What ever the motive for the insult, it is always best to overlook it; for folly doesn't deserve resentment, and malice is punished by neglect.

Women have two weapons - cosmetics and tears

Power is not sufficient evidence of truth.

There are two types of knowledge. One is knowing a thing. The other is knowing where to find it.

Prejudice is a great time-saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. Prejudice not being founded on reason cannot be removed by argument.

Sir, I have found you an argument; but I am not obliged to find you an understanding.

Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.

Those who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.

Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought; our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.

Language is the dress of thought.

Liberty is, to the lowest rank of every nation, little more than the choice of working or starving.

Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.

Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives.

Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o'clock is a scoundrel.

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

The wise man applauds he who he thinks most virtuous; the rest of the world applauds the wealthy.

Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.

All intellectual improvement arises from leisure.

The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little.

The power of punishment is to silence, not to confute.

In all pointed sentences, some degree of accuracy must be sacrificed to conciseness.

You can never be wise unless you love reading.

The first step to greatness is to be honest.

Those who do not feel pain seldom think that it is felt.

When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency.

The chief art of learning, as Locke has observed, is to attempt but little at a time. The widest excursions of the mind are made by short flights frequently repeated; the most lofty fabrics of science are formed by the continued accumulation of single propositions.

A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit.

Read over your compositions and whenever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.

Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.

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.

The disturbers of our happiness, in this world, are our desires, our griefs, and our fears.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties.

The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular direction.

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.

A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse, not a remarkable mathematician.

Such is the common process of marriage. A youth and maiden exchange meeting by chance, or brought together by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, go home, and dream of one another. Having little to divert attention, or diversify thought, they find themselves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore conclude that they shall be happy together. They marry, and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness had before concealed; they wear out life in altercations, and charge nature with cruelty.

Advice is seldom welcome. Those who need it most, like it least.

[C]ourage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing - it only hastens fools to rush in where angels fear to tread.

Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it.

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

He that wishes to see his country robbed of its rights cannot be a patriot.

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.

Each person's work is always a portrait of himself.

Whatever is formed for long duration arrives slowly to its maturity.

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.

Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument.

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

A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.

Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion.

No people can be great who have ceased to be virtuous.

Sorrow is the mere rust of the soul. Activity will cleanse and brighten it.

Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.

I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.

Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal.

Every old man complains of the growing depravity of the world, of the petulance and insolence of the rising generation.

You hesitate to stab me with a word, and know not - silence is the sharper sword.

Cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.

We are all prompted by the same motives, all deceived by the same fallacies, all animated by hope, obstructed by danger, entangled by desire, and seduced by pleasure.

If you want to be a writer, then write. Write every day!

The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.

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.

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.

The future is purchased by the present.

A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.

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

My dear friend, clear your mind of can't.

The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion.

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

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.

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.

Men who stand in the highest ranks of society seldom hear of their faults; if by any accident an opprobrious clamour reaches their ears, flattery is always at hand to pour in her opiates, to quiet conviction and obtund remorse.

Power is gradually stealing away from the many to the few, because the few are more vigilant and consistent.

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

There is a frightful interval between the seed and the timber.

The law is the last result of human wisdom acting upon human experience for the benefit of the public.

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.

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.

When any fit of gloominess, or perversion of mind, lays hold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints, but exert your whole care to hide it; by endeavouring to hide it; you will dry it away. Be always busy.

It is better to live rich than to die rich.

A contempt of the monuments and the wisdom of the past, may be justly reckoned one of the reigning follies of these days, to which pride and idleness have equally contributed.

If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary be not idle.

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.