All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable, that I would not rather know it… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
One of the amusements of idleness is reading without the fatigue of close attention; and the world therefore swarms with writers whose… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Man is a transitory being, and his designs must partake of the imperfections of their author. To confer duration is not always… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
That we must all die, we always knew, I wish I had sooner remembred it. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There is reason to suspect, that the distinctions of mankind have more show than value, when it is found that all agree… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
No man, however enslaved to his appetites, or hurried by his passions, can, while he preserves his intellects unimpaired, please himself with… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Many of our miseries are merely comparative: we are often made unhappy, not by the presence of any real evil, but by… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments; any enlargement of wishes is therefore… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
When a language begins to teem with books, it is tending to refinement; as those who undertake to teach others must have… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Every man wishes to be wise, and they who cannot be wise are almost always cunning. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason.… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
We may have uneasy feelings for seeing a creature in distress without pity; for we have not pity unless we wish to… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I do not much wish well to discoveries, for I am always afraid they will end in conquest and robbery. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I am not yet so lost in lexicography, as to forget that words are the daughters of the earth, and that things… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
There are three distinct kind of judges upon all new authors or productions; the first are those who know no rules, but… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
I wish you would add an index rerum, that when the reader recollects any incident he may easily find it. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes, and… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It requires but little acquaintance with the heart to know that woman's first wish is to be handsome; and that, consequently, the… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
That eminence of learning is not to be gained without labour, at least equal to that which any other kind of greatness… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
To purchase Heaven has gold the power? Can gold remove the mortal hour? In life can love be bought with gold? Are… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The pleasure of expecting enjoyment is often greater than that of obtaining it, and the completion of almost every wish is found… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
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… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power. — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then… — Samuel Johnson Copy Share Image
