Samuel Johnson often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. Religiously, he was a devout Anglican, and politically a committed Tory. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Johnson as “arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history”. This Samuel Johnson quotes will motivate you.
Best Samuel Johnson Quotes
- “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Every man has something to do which he neglects, every man has faults to conquer which he delays to combat.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “The wise man applauds he who he thinks most virtuous; the rest of the world applauds the wealthy.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “He that wishes to see his country robbed of its rights cannot be a patriot.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “He that is already corrupt is naturally suspicious, and he that becomes suspicious will quickly become corrupt.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” ~ Samuel Johnson, Samuel Johnson quotes on patriotism
- “He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Deviation from Nature is deviation from happiness.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Whatever the motive for the insult, it is always best to overlook it; for folly doesn’t deserve resentment, and malice is punished by neglect.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “No government power can be abused long. Mankind will not bear it…. There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “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.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “The future is purchased by the present.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“You can never be wise unless you love reading.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Language is the dress of thought; every time you talk your mind is on parade.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “The really happy woman is the one who can enjoy the scenery when she has to take a detour. Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but rather a manner of traveling.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don’t think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“My dear friend, clear your mind of can’t.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Men who stand in the highest ranks of society seldom hear of their faults; if by any accident an opprobrious clamor reaches their ears, flattery is always at hand to pour in her opiates, to quiet conviction and obtund remorse.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“Never trust your tongue when your heart is bitter.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Our aspirations are our possibilities.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “There are two types of knowledge. One is knowing a thing. The other is knowing where to find it.” ~ Samuel Johnson, Samuel Johnson quotes on knowledge
- “The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “None but a fool worries about things he cannot influence.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “It is better to live rich than to die rich.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“Truth allows no choice.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Each person’s work is always a portrait of himself.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary be not idle.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; and he may be properly charged with evil who refused to learn how he might prevent it.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“Women have two weapons – cosmetics and tears” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “No man was ever great by imitation.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing – it only hastens fools to rush in where angels fear to tread.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “You hesitate to stab me with a word, and know not – silence is the sharper sword.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “A mere literary man is a dull man; a man who is solely a man of business is a selfish man; but when literature and commerce are united, they make a respectable man.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“Grief is a species of idleness.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Such is the common process of marriage. A youth and maiden exchange meeting by chance, or brought together by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, go home, and dream of one another. Having little to divert attention, or diversify thought, they find themselves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore conclude that they shall be happy together. They marry, and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness had before concealed; they wear out life in altercations, and charge nature with cruelty.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse, not a remarkable mathematician.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Liberty is, to the lowest rank of every nation, little more than the choice of working or starving.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit.” ~ Samuel Johnson
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“It very seldom happens to a man that his business is his pleasure.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “There must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “Whoever commits a fraud is guilty not only of the particular injury to him who he deceives but of the diminution of that confidence which constitutes not only the ease but the existence of society.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- “To preserve health is a moral and religious duty: for health is the basis of all social virtues; and we can be useful no longer than while we are well.” ~ Samuel Johnson
