---
title: "8 Compare Quotes By Samuel Johnson"
description: "8 Compare quotes by Samuel Johnson. Plus more from Samuel Johnson and more Compare sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/samuel-johnson-50_agriculture_he-that-would-travel-for-the-entertainme_69022.jpg"
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> [He that would travel for the entertainment of others, should remember that the great object of remark is human life. Every nation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/he-that-would-travel-for-the-entertainment-of-others-should-remember/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/samuel-johnson-50_agriculture_he-that-would-travel-for-the-entertainme_69022.jpg)

> [Dogs have not the power of comparing. A dog will take a small piece of meat as readily as a large, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/dogs-have-not-the-power-of-comparing-a-dog-will-take-a-small-piece-of/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/samuel-johnson-50_animal_dogs-have-not-the-power-of-comparing-a-d_849266.png)

> [Sir, sorrow is inherent in humanity. As you cannot judge two and two to be either five, or three, but certainly four,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/sir-sorrow-is-inherent-in-humanity-as-you-cannot-judge-two-and-two-to/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8f/samuel-johnson-50_bears_sir-sorrow-is-inherent-in-humanity-as-yo_939460.png)

> [A student may easily exhaust his life in comparing divines and moralists without any practical regard to morals and religion; he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/a-student-may-easily-exhaust-his-life-in-comparing-divines-and/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/191/samuel-johnson-50_character_a-student-may-easily-exhaust-his-life-in_1619170.png)

> [He that compares what he has done with what he has left undone, will feel the effect which must always follow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/he-that-compares-what-he-has-done-with-what-he-has-left-undone-will/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/samuel-johnson-50_age_he-that-compares-what-he-has-done-with-w_1707819.jpg)

> [By the consultation of books, whether of dead or living authors, many temptations of petulance and opposition, which occur in oral conferences,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/by-the-consultation-of-books-whether-of-dead-or-living-authors-many/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77a/samuel-johnson-50_advice_by-the-consultation-of-books-whether-of_1921404.png)

> [I know not anything more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-know-not-anything-more-pleasant-or-more-instructive-than-to-compare/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/samuel-johnson-50_compare_i-know-not-anything-more-pleasant-or-mor_2236255.jpg)

> [Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/fly-fishing-may-be-a-very-pleasant-amusement-but-angling-or-float/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c4/samuel-johnson-50_amusement_fly-fishing-may-be-a-very-pleasant-amuse_3017996.png)

## Other authors on Compare

## 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/)

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                        "text": "Sir, sorrow is inherent in humanity. As you cannot judge two and two to be either five, or three, but certainly four, so, when comparing a worse present state with a better which is past, you cannot but feel sorrow. It is not cured by reason, but by the incursion of present objects, which bear out the past.",
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                        "text": "A student may easily exhaust his life in comparing divines and moralists without any practical regard to morals and religion; he may be learning not to live but to reason... while the chief use of his volumes is unthought of, his mind is unaffected, and his life is unreformed.",
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                        "text": "He that compares what he has done with what he has left undone, will feel the effect which must always follow the comparison of imagination with reality; he will look with contempt on his own unimportance, and wonder to what purpose he came into the world; he will repine that he shall leave behind him no evidence of his having been, that he has added nothing to the system of life, but has glided from youth to age among the crowd, without any effort for distinction.",
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}
```
