By the consultation of books, whether of dead or living authors, many temptations of petulance and opposition, which occur in oral conferences,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I remember very well, when I was at Oxford, an old gentleman said to me, "Young man, ply your book diligently now,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
...a man estimable for his learning, amiable for his life, and venerable for his piety. Arbuthnot was a man of great comprehension,… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The wickedness of a loose or profane author is more atrocious than that of a giddy libertine or drunken ravisher, not only… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The man whose genius qualifies him for great undertakings must at least be content to learn from books the present state of… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
If a man begins to read in the middle of a book, and feels an inclination to go on, let him not… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
A mere literary man is a dull man; a man who is solely a man of business is a selfish man; but… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Paradise Lost is a book that, once put down, is very hard to pick up again. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Women can spin very well, but they cannot write a good book of cookery. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The mind is refrigerated by interruption; the thoughts are diverted from the principle subject; the reader is weary, he suspects not why;… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
If an author be supposed to involve his thoughts in voluntary obscurity, and to obstruct, by unnecessary difficulties, a mind eager in… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The diversion of baiting an author has the sanction of all ages and nations, and is more lawful than the sport of… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is greater in private life than other men. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
What is twice read is commonly better remembered that what is transcribed. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Man is a transitory being, and his designs must partake of the imperfections their author. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
To understand the works of celebrated authors, to comprehend their systems, and retain their reasonings, is a task more than equal to… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
To read, write, and converse in due proportions, is, therefore, the business of a man of letters. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Was there ever yet anything written by mere man that was wished longer by its readers, excepting Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, and… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Among the numerous requisites that must concur to complete an author, few are of more importance than an early entrance into the… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
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… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
