--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [Dr. Johnson thought that] Men know that…" description: "\"“[Dr. Johnson thought that] Men know that women are an overmatch for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or the most ignorant. If they did not ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59b/james-boswell-7136_dr-johnson_dr-johnson-thought-that-men-know-that-wo_2655423.jpg" --- # \[Dr. Johnson thought that\] Men know that women are an… ![“[Dr. Johnson thought that] Men know that women are an overmatch for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or the most ignorant. If they did not think so, they never could be afraid of women knowing as much as themselves.” quote by James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59b/james-boswell-7136_dr-johnson_dr-johnson-thought-that-men-know-that-wo_2655423.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59b/james-boswell-7136_dr-johnson_dr-johnson-thought-that-men-know-that-wo_2655423.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59b/james-boswell-7136_dr-johnson_dr-johnson-thought-that-men-know-that-wo_2655423.jpg) > ““\[Dr. Johnson thought that\] Men know that women are an overmatch for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or the most ignorant. If they did not think so, they never could be afraid of women knowing as much as themselves.”” [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Men may fear women’s intellect, leading them to target those they perceive as less threatening, revealing insecurity. **In simple terms:** Men fear intelligent women and target weaker ones. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge gender-based insecurities. Themes gender dynamics insecurity power perception Mood critical analytical Type sociological psychological When to use this quote - relationships - workplace - political discourse - education Key Concepts social psychology gender relations Questions to Reflect On - Why do some men feel threatened by competent women? - How can societies reduce such insecurities? A Different Perspective The quote reflects a stereotypical view that may not apply universally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dr johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dr-johnson/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Misogyny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misogyny/) [Patriarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriarchy/) ## Related quotes > [Men know that women are an overmatch for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or the most ignorant. If they did not think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/men-know-that-women-are-an-overmatch-for-them-and-therefore-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Men know that women are an over-match for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or most ignorant. If they did not think so,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/men-know-that-women-are-an-over-match-for-them-and-therefore-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“After the dedication, Eleanor saw Bernard privately, probably at her own request. He came prepared to offer more spiritual comfort, thinking that she too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-weir/after-the-dedication-eleanor-saw-bernard-privately-probably-at-her/) [Alison Weir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-weir/) > [Lyndon B. Johnson thought he'd have the boys home from Vietnam by Christmas - for four Christmases in a row (he never shifted course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/lyndon-b-johnson-thought-he-d-have-the-boys-home-from-vietnam-by/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) > [I wasn't part of John Kennedy's vision of the world, or Lyndon Johnson's. I thought of them as anti-Communist imperial monsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-wasn-t-part-of-john-kennedy-s-vision-of-the-world-or-lyndon-johnson/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Dr. Johnson ... sometimes employed himself in chymistry, sometimes in watering and pruning a vine, and sometimes in small experiments, at which those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/dr-johnson-sometimes-employed-himself-in-chymistry-sometimes-in/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Dr Johnson said, the inscription should have been in Latin, as every thing intended to be universal and permanent, should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/dr-johnson-said-the-inscription-should-have-been-in-latin-as-every/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Boswell: But, Sir is it not somewhat singular that you should happen to have Cocker's Arithmetic about you on your journey? Dr. Johnson: Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/boswell-but-sir-is-it-not-somewhat-singular-that-you-should-happen-to/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [I know that I don't have a problem with women knowing more or learning more or performing better or making more money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anubhav-sinha/i-know-that-i-don-t-have-a-problem-with-women-knowing-more-or/) [Anubhav Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anubhav-sinha/) > [Romanticism is a cultural tool of male power to keep women from knowing their conditions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/romanticism-is-a-cultural-tool-of-male-power-to-keep-women-from/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [I accused a woman of doing something behind my back when I knew that she hadn't, just to see if she loved me. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyrese-gibson/i-accused-a-woman-of-doing-something-behind-my-back-when-i-knew-that-2/) [Tyrese Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyrese-gibson/) > [I think despite what we've seen on TV, people like seeing women and knowing about women's stories and their struggles and their truth. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-guerrero/i-think-despite-what-we-ve-seen-on-tv-people-like-seeing-women-and/) [Diane Guerrero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-guerrero/) > [One must choose between loving women and knowing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninon-de-l-enclos/one-must-choose-between-loving-women-and-knowing-them/) [Ninon de L'Enclos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninon-de-l-enclos/) > [“How are you coming with your home library? Do you need some good ammunition on why it's so important to read? The last time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-library-do-you-need-some-good/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [“Listen, I wanted to say, I don't need your judgment, okay? I have enough to deal with without you contributing, so can we just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-verdi/listen-i-wanted-to-say-i-don-t-need-your-judgment-okay-i-have-enough/) [Jessica Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-verdi/) ## More by James Boswell > [Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed; and it is consolatory to think, that although we can seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/friendship-the-wine-of-life-should-like-a-well-stocked-cellar-be/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Drinking is in reality an occupation which employs a considerable portion of the time of many people; and to conduct it in the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/drinking-is-in-reality-an-occupation-which-employs-a-considerable/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [“His OFELLUS in the Art of Living in London, I have heard him relate, was an Irish painter, whom he knew at Birmingham, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/his-ofellus-in-the-art-of-living-in-london-i-have-heard-him-relate/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [If a man who is born to a fortune cannot make himself easier and freer than those who are not, he gains nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/if-a-man-who-is-born-to-a-fortune-cannot-make-himself-easier-and/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [He had no settled plan of life, nor looked forward at all, but merely lived from day to day. Yet he read a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/he-had-no-settled-plan-of-life-nor-looked-forward-at-all-but-merely/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Nay, Sir, it was not the WINE that made your head ache, but the SENSE that I put into it' 'What, Sir! will sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/nay-sir-it-was-not-the-wine-that-made-your-head-ache-but-the-sense/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Have a sense of piety ever on your mind, and be ever mindful that this is subject to no change, but will last you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/have-a-sense-of-piety-ever-on-your-mind-and-be-ever-mindful-that-this/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [There is indeed a strange prejudice against Quotation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/there-is-indeed-a-strange-prejudice-against-quotation/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [We must take our friends as they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/we-must-take-our-friends-as-they-are/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [ \[A\]s a lady adjusts her dress before a mirror, a man adjusts his character by looking at his journal. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/a-s-a-lady-adjusts-her-dress-before-a-mirror-a-man-adjusts-his/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [We had some port, and drank damnation to the play and eternal remorse to the author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/we-had-some-port-and-drank-damnation-to-the-play-and-eternal-remorse/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [I find I journalize too tediously. Let me try to abbreviate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/i-find-i-journalize-too-tediously-let-me-try-to-abbreviate/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [ In comparing these two writers, he \[Samuel Johnson\] used this expression: "that there was as great a difference between them as between a man… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/in-comparing-these-two-writers-he-samuel-johnson-used-this-expression/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [I make it a kind of pious rule to go to every funeral to which I am invited, both as I wish to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/i-make-it-a-kind-of-pious-rule-to-go-to-every-funeral-to-which-i-am/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [All censure of a man's self is oblique praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/all-censure-of-a-man-s-self-is-oblique-praise/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) [Explore all 94 James Boswell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) ## More Dr johnson quotes > [“Listen, I wanted to say, I don't need your judgment, okay? I have enough to deal with without you contributing, so can we just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-verdi/listen-i-wanted-to-say-i-don-t-need-your-judgment-okay-i-have-enough/) [Jessica Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-verdi/) > [“How are you coming with your home library? Do you need some good ammunition on why it's so important to read? The last time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-library-do-you-need-some-good/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [“I think I can understand that feeling about a housewife’s work being like that of Sisyphus (who was the stone rolling gentleman). But it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/i-think-i-can-understand-that-feeling-about-a-housewife-s-work-being/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [I'm an advocate of the great Dr. Johnson, the English man of letters who said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-galloway/i-m-an-advocate-of-the-great-dr-johnson-the-english-man-of-letters/) [George Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-galloway/) > [“I was strong in English, and thankful for it. I knew the great Dr. Johnson from his friend Mr. Boswell. There is a friend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-llewellyn/i-was-strong-in-english-and-thankful-for-it-i-knew-the-great-dr/) [Richard Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-llewellyn/) > [“It is generally understood that a modern-day book may honorably be based upon an older one, especially since, as Dr. Johnson observed, no man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/it-is-generally-understood-that-a-modern-day-book-may-honorably-be/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Boswell: But, Sir is it not somewhat singular that you should happen to have Cocker's Arithmetic about you on your journey? Dr. Johnson: Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/boswell-but-sir-is-it-not-somewhat-singular-that-you-should-happen-to/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Patriotism, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/patriotism-n-combustible-rubbish-ready-to-the-torch-of-any-one/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [You think I love flattery (says Dr. Johnson), and so I do; but a little too much always disgusts me: that fellow Richardson, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-think-i-love-flattery-says-dr-johnson-and-so-i-do-but-a-little/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“As Dr. Johnson said: “God himself, sir, does not propose to judge man until the end of his days.” Why should you and I?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/as-dr-johnson-said-god-himself-sir-does-not-propose-to-judge-man/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [Even happiness itself may become habitual. There is a habit of looking at the bright side of things, and also of looking at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/even-happiness-itself-may-become-habitual-there-is-a-habit-of-looking/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Dr. Johnson was a lazy learned man who liked to think and talk better than to read or write; who, however, wrote much and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/dr-johnson-was-a-lazy-learned-man-who-liked-to-think-and-talk-better/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [One of Dr. Johnson's ingredients of happiness was, "A little less time than you want." That means always to have so many things you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hunt-jackson/one-of-dr-johnson-s-ingredients-of-happiness-was-a-little-less-time/) [Helen Hunt Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-hunt-jackson/) > [BRANDY, n. A cordial composed of one part thunder-and-lightning, one part remorse, two parts bloody murder, one part death-hell-and-the- grave and four parts clarified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/brandy-n-a-cordial-composed-of-one-part-thunder-and-lightning-one/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Culture is like the sum of special knowledge that accumulates in any large united family and is the common property of all its members.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/culture-is-like-the-sum-of-special-knowledge-that-accumulates-in-any/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Browse all 31 Dr johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dr-johnson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[Dr. Johnson thought that] Men know that women are an overmatch for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or the most ignorant. 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