"Man is a transitory being, and his designs……" — Samuel Johnson
"Man is a transitory being, and his designs must partake of the imperfections of their author. To confer duration is not always in our power. We must snatch the present moment, and employ it well, without too much solicitude for the future, and content ourselves with reflecting that our part is performed. He that waits for an opportunity to do much at once, may breathe out his life in idle wishes, and regret, in the last hour, his useless intentions and barren zeal."
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Samuel Johnson
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1,266 Quotes by Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson has 1,266 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
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Your aspirations are your possibilities.
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It is, indeed, at home that every man must be known by those who would make a just estimate either…
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The violence of war admits no distinction; the lance, that is lifted at guilt and power, will sometimes fall on…
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Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young.
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To a people warlike and indigent, an incursion into a rich country is never hurtful.
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The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.
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Health is certainly more valuable than money, because it is by health that money is procured.
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The certainty that life cannot be long, and the probability that it will be much shorter than nature allows, ought…
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Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.
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Politics are now nothing more than means of rising in the world.
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The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular direction.
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He who expects much will be often disappointed; yet disappointment seldom cures us of expectation, or has any other effect…
See all 1,266 quotes by Samuel Johnson »
More Author Quotes
This quote is filed under Author Quotes,
one of 1,140 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
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If you feel that there's the author and then the character, then the book is not working. People have a…
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The difference is slight, to the influence of an author, whether he is read by five hundred readers, or by…
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After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get a new…
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I have been told by hospital authorities that more copies of my works are left behind by departing patients than…
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There is a note in the front of the volume saying that no public reading may be given without first…
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Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which sincere and meaningful repentance must be built. If we…
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Once the curtain is raised, the actor is ceases to belong to himself. He belongs to his character, to his…
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You know, we love stories and we love narrative; we love to get lost in an author's world.
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I'm most impressed by the Russian writers, so I love reading the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Another author who…
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If Shakespeare had to go on an author tour to promote Romeo and Juliet, he never would have written Macbeth.
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Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.
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The idea is to become a best-selling author first and then the rest of my books will be slam dunks.
— Nolan Bushnell
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