--- title: "Best Desire Quotes by Samuel Johnson" description: "56 Desire quotes by Samuel Johnson. Plus more from Samuel Johnson and more Desire sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/samuel-johnson-50_book_books-have-always-a-secret-influence-on_1114897.png" --- > [Books have always a secret influence on the understanding; we cannot at pleasure obliterate ideas; he that reads books of science, thogh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/books-have-always-a-secret-influence-on-the-understanding-we-cannot/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/samuel-johnson-50_book_books-have-always-a-secret-influence-on_1114897.png) > [Knowledge always desires increase, it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/knowledge-always-desires-increase-it-is-like-fire-which-must-first-be/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f5/samuel-johnson-50_agents_knowledge-always-desires-increase-it-is_668181.png) > [All envy is proportionate to desire; we are uneasy at the attainments of another, according as we think our own happiness would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-envy-is-proportionate-to-desire-we-are-uneasy-at-the-attainments/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/samuel-johnson-50_attainment_all-envy-is-proportionate-to-desire-we-a_2669919.png) > [Our desires always increase with our possessions. The knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed impairs our enjoyment of the good before us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/our-desires-always-increase-with-our-possessions-the-knowledge-that/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/samuel-johnson-50_desire_our-desires-always-increase-with-our-pos_498743.png) > [We are all prompted by the same motives, all deceived by the same fallacies, all animated by hope, obstructed by danger, entangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/we-are-all-prompted-by-the-same-motives-all-deceived-by-the-same/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/samuel-johnson-50_animated_we-are-all-prompted-by-the-same-motives_1832991.png) > [He to whom many objects of pursuit arise at the same time, will frequently hesitate between different desires till a rival has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/he-to-whom-many-objects-of-pursuit-arise-at-the-same-time-will/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/samuel-johnson-50_advancing_he-to-whom-many-objects-of-pursuit-arise_797199.png) > [It ought to be the first endeavour of a writer to distinguish nature from custom; or that which is established because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-ought-to-be-the-first-endeavour-of-a-writer-to-distinguish-nature/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/samuel-johnson-50_attainment_it-ought-to-be-the-first-endeavour-of-a_1837701.png) > [At length weariness succeeds to labor, and the mind lies at ease in the contemplation of her own attainments without any desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-and-the-mind-lies-at-ease-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/373/samuel-johnson-50_age_at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-an_49381.png) > [The hostility perpetually exercised between one man and another, is caused by the desire of many for that which only few can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-hostility-perpetually-exercised-between-one-man-and-another-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d89/samuel-johnson-50_conditions_the-hostility-perpetually-exercised-betw_274323.png) > [An Italian philosopher said that "time was his estate"; an estate indeed which will produce nothing without cultivation, but will always abundantly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/an-italian-philosopher-said-that-time-was-his-estate-an-estate-indeed/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/272/samuel-johnson-50_cultivation_an-italian-philosopher-said-that-time-wa_1802888.png) > [“I can discover within me no power of perception which is not glutted with its proper pleasure, yet I do not feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-can-discover-within-me-no-power-of-perception-which-is-not-glutted/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/samuel-johnson-50_desire_i-can-discover-within-me-no-power-of-per_2206359.png) > [The desire of advising has a very extensive prevalence; and, since advice cannot be given but to those that will hear it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-desire-of-advising-has-a-very-extensive-prevalence-and-since/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/samuel-johnson-50_accommodations_the-desire-of-advising-has-a-very-extens_794509.jpg) > [The great end of prudence is to give cheerfulness to those hours which splendour cannot gild, and acclamation cannot exhilarate; those soft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-great-end-of-prudence-is-to-give-cheerfulness-to-those-hours/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/samuel-johnson-50_ambition_the-great-end-of-prudence-is-to-give-che_209491.png) > [When I find that so much of my life has stolen unprofitably away, and that I can descry by retrospection scarcely a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/when-i-find-that-so-much-of-my-life-has-stolen-unprofitably-away-and/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/samuel-johnson-50_buns_when-i-find-that-so-much-of-my-life-has_524498.png) > [It is generally allowed, that no man ever found the happiness of possession proportionate to that expectation which incited his desire, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-generally-allowed-that-no-man-ever-found-the-happiness-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/612/samuel-johnson-50_desire_it-is-generally-allowed-that-no-man-ever_2177478.png) > [Such are the vicissitudes of the world, through all its parts, that day and night, labor and rest, hurry and retirement, endear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/such-are-the-vicissitudes-of-the-world-through-all-its-parts-that-day/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f8/samuel-johnson-50_action_such-are-the-vicissitudes-of-the-world-t_1368126.png) ## Other authors on Desire - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rajneesh-77002.jpg) Rajneesh 75 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/rajneesh/) - [Lailah Gifty Akita 63 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/lailah-gifty-akita/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-napoleon-hill-70196.jpg) Napoleon Hill 58 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/napoleon-hill/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-frederick-lenz-36205.jpg) Frederick Lenz 56 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/frederick-lenz/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-deepak-chopra-28468.jpg) Deepak Chopra 54 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/deepak-chopra/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bertrand-russell-17477.jpg) Bertrand Russell 51 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/bertrand-russell/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-gautama-buddha-37107.jpg) Gautama Buddha 48 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/gautama-buddha/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 46 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-francois-de-la-rochefoucauld-146.jpg) Francois de La Rochefoucauld 45 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-william-shakespeare-95899.jpg) William Shakespeare 43 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/william-shakespeare/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ayn-rand-15943.jpg) Ayn Rand 43 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/ayn-rand/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-paulo-coelho-74345.jpg) Paulo Coelho 41 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/paulo-coelho/) ## 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/desire/samuel-johnson/#itemlist", "name": "Best Desire Quotes by Samuel Johnson", "numberOfItems": 16, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Books have always a secret influence on the understanding; we cannot at pleasure obliterate ideas; he that reads books of science, thogh without any fixed desire of improvement, will grow more knowing...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/books-have-always-a-secret-influence-on-the-understanding-we-cannot/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/samuel-johnson-50_book_books-have-always-a-secret-influence-on_1114897.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/samuel-johnson-50_book_books-have-always-a-secret-influence-on_1114897.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aca/samuel-johnson-50_book_books-have-always-a-secret-influence-on_1114897.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Books have always a secret influence on the understanding; we cannot at pleasure obliterate ideas; he that…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Knowledge always desires increase, it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/knowledge-always-desires-increase-it-is-like-fire-which-must-first-be/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f5/samuel-johnson-50_agents_knowledge-always-desires-increase-it-is_668181.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f5/samuel-johnson-50_agents_knowledge-always-desires-increase-it-is_668181.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f5/samuel-johnson-50_agents_knowledge-always-desires-increase-it-is_668181.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Knowledge always desires increase, it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All envy is proportionate to desire; we are uneasy at the attainments of another, according as we think our own happiness would be advanced by the addition of that which he withholds from us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-envy-is-proportionate-to-desire-we-are-uneasy-at-the-attainments/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/samuel-johnson-50_attainment_all-envy-is-proportionate-to-desire-we-a_2669919.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/samuel-johnson-50_attainment_all-envy-is-proportionate-to-desire-we-a_2669919.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/samuel-johnson-50_attainment_all-envy-is-proportionate-to-desire-we-a_2669919.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All envy is proportionate to desire; we are uneasy at the attainments of another, according as we think our…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our desires always increase with our possessions. 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This is the age of recollection and narrative; the opinions are settled, and the avenues of apprehension shut against any new intelligence; the days that are to follow must pass in the inculcation of precepts already collected, and assertion of tenets already received; nothing is henceforward so odious as opposition, so insolent as doubt, or so dangerous as novelty.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-and-the-mind-lies-at-ease-in/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/373/samuel-johnson-50_age_at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-an_49381.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/373/samuel-johnson-50_age_at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-an_49381.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/373/samuel-johnson-50_age_at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-an_49381.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At length weariness succeeds to labor, and the mind lies at ease in the contemplation of her own attainments…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The hostility perpetually exercised between one man and another, is caused by the desire of many for that which only few can possess. 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Man has surely some latent sense for which this place affords no gratification, or he has some desires distinct from sense which must be satisfied before he can be happy.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-can-discover-within-me-no-power-of-perception-which-is-not-glutted/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/samuel-johnson-50_desire_i-can-discover-within-me-no-power-of-per_2206359.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/samuel-johnson-50_desire_i-can-discover-within-me-no-power-of-per_2206359.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/samuel-johnson-50_desire_i-can-discover-within-me-no-power-of-per_2206359.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I can discover within me no power of perception which is not glutted with its proper pleasure, yet I do not…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The desire of advising has a very extensive prevalence; and, since advice cannot be given but to those that will hear it, a patient listener is necessary to the accommodation of all those who desire to be confirmed in the opinion of their own wisdom: a patient listener, however, is not always to be had; the present age, whatever age is present, is so vitiated and disordered, that young people are readier to talk than to attend, and good counsel is only thrown away upon those who are full of their own perfections.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-desire-of-advising-has-a-very-extensive-prevalence-and-since/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/samuel-johnson-50_accommodations_the-desire-of-advising-has-a-very-extens_794509.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/samuel-johnson-50_accommodations_the-desire-of-advising-has-a-very-extens_794509.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/samuel-johnson-50_accommodations_the-desire-of-advising-has-a-very-extens_794509.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The desire of advising has a very extensive prevalence; and, since advice cannot be given but to those that…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The great end of prudence is to give cheerfulness to those hours which splendour cannot gild, and acclamation cannot exhilarate; those soft intervals of unbended amusement, in which a man shrinks to his natural dimensions, and throws aside the ornaments or disguises which he feels in privacy to be useless incumbrances, and to lose all effect when they become familiar. 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I try, because reformation is necessary and despair is criminal. 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