All Samuel Johnson Quotes
- In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath. Inscriptions
- No mind is much employed upon the present; recollection and anticipation fill up almost all our moments. All
- Of all the grief's that harass the distressed; sure the most bitter is a scornful jest. All
- If the abuse be enormous, nature will rise up, and claiming her original rights, overturn a corrupt political system. Abuse
- When female minds are embittered by age or solitude, their malignity is generally exerted in a rigorous and spiteful superintendence of domestic trifles. Age
- He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions. Become Superior
- That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there must not only be equal virtue on each part, but virtue of the same kind;… Approved
- As any action or posture, long continued, will distort and disfigure the limbs, so the mind likewise is crippled and contracted by perpetual application to… Action
- The most Heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together. Heterogeneous
- There lurks, perhaps, in every human heart a desire of distinction, which inclines every man first to hope, and then to believe, that Nature has… Believe
- Our aspirations are our possibilities. Aspiration
- It is very strange, and very melancholy, that the paucity of human pleasures should persuade us ever to call hunting one of them. Call
- Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable. All
- Our desires always increase with our possessions. The knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed impairs our enjoyment of the good before us. Always Increase
- You are much surer that you are doing good when you pay money to those who work, as the recompense of their labor, than when… Charity
- The vicious count their years; virtuous, their acts. Acts
- God Himself, sir, does not propose to judge a man until his life is over. Why should you and I? Doe
- Language is only the instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas. Ideas
- When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency. Civility
- Men who cannot deceive others are very often successful at deceiving themselves. Cannot Deceive
- Tomorrow is an old deceiver, and his cheat never grows stale. Cheat
- Those writers who lie on the watch for novelty can have little hope of greatness; for great things cannot have escaped former observation. Escaped
- In traveling, a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge. Bring
- Let him that desires to see others happy, make haste to give while his gift can be enjoyed, and remember that every moment of delay… Away Something
- Pleasure that is obtained by unreasonable and unsuitable cost must always end in pain. Always End