--- title: "9 Fixed Quotes By Samuel Johnson" description: "9 Fixed quotes by Samuel Johnson. Plus more from Samuel Johnson and more Fixed sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d08/samuel-johnson-50_desire_sorrow-is-properly-that-state-of-the-min_1167714.png" --- > [Sorrow is properly that state of the mind in which our desires are fixed upon the past without looking forward to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/sorrow-is-properly-that-state-of-the-mind-in-which-our-desires-are/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d08/samuel-johnson-50_desire_sorrow-is-properly-that-state-of-the-min_1167714.png) > [It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-common-to-overlook-what-is-near-by-keeping-the-eye-fixed-on/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e57/samuel-johnson-50_common_it-is-common-to-overlook-what-is-near-by_1490939.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) > [If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-your-determination-is-fixed-i-do-not-counsel-you-to-despair-few/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/953/samuel-johnson-50_despair_if-your-determination-is-fixed-i-do-not_2234541.jpg) > [When we see our enemies and friends gliding away before us, let us not forget that we are subject to the general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/when-we-see-our-enemies-and-friends-gliding-away-before-us-let-us-not/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c55/samuel-johnson-50_death_when-we-see-our-enemies-and-friends-glid_1064474.png) > [Books are faithful repositories, which may be awhile neglected or forgotten; but when they are opened again, will again impart their instruction:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/books-are-faithful-repositories-which-may-be-awhile-neglected-or/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/samuel-johnson-50_book_books-are-faithful-repositories-which-ma_1249522.png) > [Providence has fixed the limits of human enjoyment by immovable boundaries, and has set different gratifications at such a distance from each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/providence-has-fixed-the-limits-of-human-enjoyment-by-immovable/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/samuel-johnson-50_art_providence-has-fixed-the-limits-of-human_2114905.png) > [There are occasions on which it is noble to dare to stand alone. To be pious among infidels, to be disinterested in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/there-are-occasions-on-which-it-is-noble-to-dare-to-stand-alone-to-be/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/602/samuel-johnson-50_betrayal_there-are-occasions-on-which-it-is-noble_1410130.jpg) > [Tradition is but a meteor, which, if it once falls, cannot be rekindled. Memory, once interrupted, is not to be recalled. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/tradition-is-but-a-meteor-which-if-it-once-falls-cannot-be-rekindled/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1d/samuel-johnson-50_book_tradition-is-but-a-meteor-which-if-it-on_1186463.png) ## Other authors on Fixed ## 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/fixed/samuel-johnson/#itemlist", "name": "9 Fixed Quotes By Samuel Johnson", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sorrow is properly that state of the mind in which our desires are fixed upon the past without looking forward to the future.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/sorrow-is-properly-that-state-of-the-mind-in-which-our-desires-are/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d08/samuel-johnson-50_desire_sorrow-is-properly-that-state-of-the-min_1167714.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d08/samuel-johnson-50_desire_sorrow-is-properly-that-state-of-the-min_1167714.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d08/samuel-johnson-50_desire_sorrow-is-properly-that-state-of-the-min_1167714.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sorrow is properly that state of the mind in which our desires are fixed upon the past without looking…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-common-to-overlook-what-is-near-by-keeping-the-eye-fixed-on/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e57/samuel-johnson-50_common_it-is-common-to-overlook-what-is-near-by_1490939.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e57/samuel-johnson-50_common_it-is-common-to-overlook-what-is-near-by_1490939.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e57/samuel-johnson-50_common_it-is-common-to-overlook-what-is-near-by_1490939.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote.” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "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": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. 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To be pious among infidels, to be…” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Tradition is but a meteor, which, if it once falls, cannot be rekindled. Memory, once interrupted, is not to be recalled. But written learning is a fixed luminary, after the cloud that had hidden it has passed away, is again bright in its proper station. 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