Quotessence
Home / Authors / Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenMayMindWritingIfsPleasureShouldLittlesWorldThinkingHumansKnowsVirtueFirstsBookEvery ManDesireHappinessReasonWish

Famous Samuel Johnson Quotes

“There is no temper more unpropitious to interest than desultory application and unlimited inquiry, by which the desires are held in a perpetual equipoise, and the mind fluctuates between different purposes without determination.”

MindDifferentDesirePurposeInterestFocusDeterminationApplicationTemperPerpetualUnlimitedInquiry
Book:The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius /c by Arthur Murphy, Esq
Create image

“That distrust which intrudes so often on your mind is a mode of melancholy, which, if it be the business of a wise man to be happy, it is foolish to indulge; and if it be a duty to preserve our faculties entire for their proper use, it is criminal. Suspicion is very often an useless pain.”

IfsMenMindUsePainWiseDutyCriminalsFoolishUselessPreservesInsecurityFacultyMelancholySuspicionDistrustIndulge
Book:The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D., comprehending an account of his studies, and numerous works, in chronological order: a series of his epistolary correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published; the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great Britain, for near half a century during which he flourished
Create image

“Solitude is the surest nurse of all prurient passions, and a girl in the hurry of preparation, or tumult of gaiety, has neither inclination nor leisure to let tender expressions soften or sink into her heart. The ball, the show, are not the dangerous places: no, 'tis the private friend, the kind consoler, the companion of the easy vacant hour, whose compliance with her opinions can flatter her vanity, and whose conversation can sooth, without ever stretching her mind, that is the lover to be feared: he who buzzes in her ear at court, or at the opera, must be contented to buzz in vain.”

MindHeartKindShowsGirlPassionEasyHoursOpinionDangerousExpressionLoversSolitudeConversationEarsBallsCourtVanityPreparationVainCompanionNurseOperaLeisureFlatteryInclinationStretchingBuzzComplianceVacantTumultDangerous PlacesGaiety
Book:The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides
Create image

“In a time of war the nation is always of one mind, eager to hear something good of themselves and ill of the enemy. At this time the task of the news-writer is easy; they have nothing to do but to tell that a battle is expected, and afterwards that a battle has been fought, in which we and our friends, whether conquering or conquered, did all, and our enemies did nothing.”

MindHas BeensWarNationsEasyEnemyBattleNewsTasksIllExpectedConquerPatriot
Book:Essays from the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler
Create image

“They who have already enjoyed the crowds and noise of the great city, know their desire to return is little more than the restlessness of a vacant mind, that they are not so much led by hope as driven by disgust, and wish rather to leave the country than to see the town.”

KnowsMindLittlesCountryDesireWishCitiesReturnTownsCrowdsDrivenNoiseEnjoyedDisgustingRestlessnessGreat CitiesVacant
Book:The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
Create image

“What a strange narrowness of mind now is that, to think the things we have not known are better than the things we have known.”

ThinkingMindKnownStrangeWise Words
Book:The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D., comprehending an account of his studies, and numerous works, in chronological order: a series of his epistolary correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published; the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great Britain, for near half a century during which he flourished
Create image

“The mind is refrigerated by interruption; the thoughts are diverted from the principle subject; the reader is weary, he suspects not why; and at last throws away the book, which he has too diligently studied.”

MindBookLastsPrinciplesSubjectsStudentsReaderSuspectsWearyDiligenceInterruptions
Book:The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare: With Notes Critical, Historical and Explanatory, Selected from the Most Eminent Commentators
Create image

“To see helpless infancy stretching out her hands, and pouring out her cries in testimony of dependence, without any powers to alarm jealousy, or any guilt to alienate affection, must surely awaken tenderness in every human mind; and tenderness once excited will be hourly increased by the natural contagion of felicity, by the repercussion of communicated pleasure, by the consciousness of dignity of benefaction.”

MindHumansHandsNaturalPleasureConsciousnessCryDignityGuiltAffectionExcitedHuman MindTendernessHelplessDependenceTestimonyAlarmsStretchingPouringInfancyRepercussionsFelicityContagion
Book:The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An Essay on His Life and Genius
Create image

“Great abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention. Imagination is not required in any degree; only about as much as is used in the lowest kinds of poetry. Some penetration, accuracy, and coloring, will fit a man for the task, if he can give the application which is necessary.”

IfsMenGivingMindHumansKindFactsHandsUsedImaginationAbilityHistoryReadyFitExerciseDegreesTasksHistoricalInventionHuman MindHistorianApplicationCompositionLowestAccuracyPenetration
Book:The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D., comprehending an account of his studies, and numerous works, in chronological order: a series of his epistolary correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published; the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great Britain, for near half a century during which he flourished
Create image

“The chief art of learning, as Locke has observed, is to attempt but little at a time. The widest excursions of the mind are made by short flights frequently repeated; the most lofty fabrics of science are formed by the continued accumulation of single propositions.”

MindLittlesArtMadeScienceLearningFlightChiefsFabricPropositionsAccumulationLoftyExcursions
Book:The Rambler: A Periodical Paper, Published in 1750, 1751, 1752
Create image