--- title: "7 Borrowed Quotes By Samuel Johnson" description: "7 Borrowed quotes by Samuel Johnson. Plus more from Samuel Johnson and more Borrowed sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg" --- > [So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if hope were not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-happiness-that-in-many/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg) > [Modern writers are the moons of literature; they shine with reflected light, with light borrowed from the ancients.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/modern-writers-are-the-moons-of-literature-they-shine-with-reflected/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/samuel-johnson-50_book_modern-writers-are-the-moons-of-literatu_1338833.png) > [To forget, or pretend to do so, to return a borrowed article, is the meanest sort of petty theft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-forget-or-pretend-to-do-so-to-return-a-borrowed-article-is-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/754/samuel-johnson-50_articles_to-forget-or-pretend-to-do-so-to-return_1576936.png) > [As not every instance of similitude can be considered as a proof of imitation, so not every imitation ought to be stigmatised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/as-not-every-instance-of-similitude-can-be-considered-as-a-proof-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/samuel-johnson-50_adoption_as-not-every-instance-of-similitude-can_1832698.png) > [False taste is always busy to mislead those that are entering upon the regions of learning; and the traveller, uncertain of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/false-taste-is-always-busy-to-mislead-those-that-are-entering-upon/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4c/samuel-johnson-50_arise_false-taste-is-always-busy-to-mislead-th_1999247.jpg) > [Human reason borrowed many arts from the instinct of animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/human-reason-borrowed-many-arts-from-the-instinct-of-animals/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/273/samuel-johnson-50_animal_human-reason-borrowed-many-arts-from-the_2868338.png) > [Consultation and compliance can conduce little to the perfection of any literary performance; for whoever is so doubtful of his own abilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/consultation-and-compliance-can-conduce-little-to-the-perfection-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/samuel-johnson-50_ability_consultation-and-compliance-can-conduce_2928575.png) ## Other authors on Borrowed ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowed/samuel-johnson/#itemlist", "name": "7 Borrowed Quotes By Samuel Johnson", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if hope were not allowed to relieve the present hour by pleasures borrowed from the future.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-happiness-that-in-many/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/samuel-johnson-50_allowance_so-scanty-is-our-present-allowance-of-ha_148913.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So scanty is our present allowance of happiness that in many situations life could scarcely be supported if…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Modern writers are the moons of literature; they shine with reflected light, with light borrowed from the ancients.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/modern-writers-are-the-moons-of-literature-they-shine-with-reflected/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/samuel-johnson-50_book_modern-writers-are-the-moons-of-literatu_1338833.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/samuel-johnson-50_book_modern-writers-are-the-moons-of-literatu_1338833.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/samuel-johnson-50_book_modern-writers-are-the-moons-of-literatu_1338833.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Modern writers are the moons of literature; they shine with reflected light, with light borrowed from the…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To forget, or pretend to do so, to return a borrowed article, is the meanest sort of petty theft.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-forget-or-pretend-to-do-so-to-return-a-borrowed-article-is-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/754/samuel-johnson-50_articles_to-forget-or-pretend-to-do-so-to-return_1576936.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/754/samuel-johnson-50_articles_to-forget-or-pretend-to-do-so-to-return_1576936.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/754/samuel-johnson-50_articles_to-forget-or-pretend-to-do-so-to-return_1576936.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To forget, or pretend to do so, to return a borrowed article, is the meanest sort of petty theft.” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As not every instance of similitude can be considered as a proof of imitation, so not every imitation ought to be stigmatised as plagiarism. 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