---
title: "6 Cunning Quotes By Samuel Johnson"
description: "6 Cunning quotes by Samuel Johnson. Plus more from Samuel Johnson and more Cunning sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/samuel-johnson-50_ability_cunning-has-effect-from-the-credulity-of_131462.png"
---

> [Cunning has effect from the credulity of others, rather than from the abilities of those who are cunning. It requires no extraordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/cunning-has-effect-from-the-credulity-of-others-rather-than-from-the/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/samuel-johnson-50_ability_cunning-has-effect-from-the-credulity-of_131462.png)

> [That observation which is called knowledge of the world will be found much more frequently to make men cunning than good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-observation-which-is-called-knowledge-of-the-world-will-be-found/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/126/samuel-johnson-50_cunning_that-observation-which-is-called-knowled_587071.png)

> [Cunning differs from wisdom as twilight from open day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/cunning-differs-from-wisdom-as-twilight-from-open-day/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34f/samuel-johnson-50_cunning_cunning-differs-from-wisdom-as-twilight_1088172.png)

> [Every man wishes to be wise, and they who cannot be wise are almost always cunning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/every-man-wishes-to-be-wise-and-they-who-cannot-be-wise-are-almost/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/samuel-johnson-50_being-wise_every-man-wishes-to-be-wise-and-they-who_1130153.png)

> [The whole power of cunning is privative; to say nothing, and to do nothing , is the utmost of its reach. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-whole-power-of-cunning-is-privative-to-say-nothing-and-to-do/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/samuel-johnson-50_able_the-whole-power-of-cunning-is-privative_1807622.jpg)

> [...a common observation, that few are mended by imprisonment, and that he, whose crimes have made confinement necessary, seldom makes any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/a-common-observation-that-few-are-mended-by-imprisonment-and-that-he/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/samuel-johnson-50_common_a-common-observation-that-few-are-mended_2003411.jpg)

## Other authors on Cunning

## 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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