Search quotes by author:    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 


Samuel Johnson Quotes


Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble.

Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.

At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.

Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives.

Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.

Between falsehood and useless truth there is little difference. As gold which he cannot spend will make no man rich, so knowledge which cannot apply will make no man wise.

Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.

Books that you carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are most useful after all.

Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed.

By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.

By taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing that she made him so happy as a married man, that he wishes to be so a second time.

Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.

Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.

Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.

Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for where there is nothing but pure misery there never is any recourse to the mention of it.

Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.

Disease generally begins that equality which death completes.

Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test.

Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments.

Every man who attacks my belief, diminishes in some degree my confidence in it, and therefore makes me uneasy; and I am angry with him who makes me uneasy.