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Quote by Samuel Johnson

“All power of fancy over reason is a degree of madness.”

Book:Johnsoniana; or supplement to Boswell; being Anecdotes and sayings of Dr. Johnson, etc

Work

Johnsoniana; or supplement to Boswell; being Anecdotes and sayings of Dr. Johnson, etc

This book serves as a supplement to James Boswell's biography of Dr. Samuel Johnson, offering additional anecdotes and sayings that provide insight into the life and character of the renowned 18th-century English writer, critic, and lexicographer. more

Author

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson was an English writer, poet, and lexicographer, renowned for his comprehensive English dictionary, 'A Dictionary of the English Language', published in 1755. His distinctive writing style and wit have cemented his place as a significant figure in the history of English literature. more

“Many a man is mad in certain instances, and goes through life without having it perceived. For example, a madness has seized a person of supposing himself obliged literally to pray continually; had the madness turned the opposite way, and the person thought it a crime ever to pray, it might not improbably have continued unobserved.”

Men Way Persons Might Certain Crime Example Praying Opposites Madness Mad Instance Obliged Supposing

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

Source: 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

“A man of sense and education should meet a suitable companion in a wife. It is a miserable thing when the conversation can only be such as whether the mutton should be boiled or roasted, and probably a dispute about that.”

Men Should Marriage Wife Conversation Miserable Companion Disputes Suitable Mutton

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

Source: The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

“A married man has many cares, but a bachelor no pleasures.”

Men Care Pleasure Marriage Married Bachelors Married Man

Author:Samuel Johnson

“Marriage is the strictest tie of perpetual friendship, and there can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity; and he must expect to be wretched, who pays to beauty, riches, or politeness that regard which only virtue and piety can claim.”

Pay Marriage Virtue Integrity Claims Regard Riches Ties Perpetual Wretched Piety Politeness No Confidence

Book:The works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: with an essay on his life and genius

Source: The works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: with an essay on his life and genius

“Among many parallels which men of imagination have drawn between the natural and moral state of the world, it has been observed that happiness as well as virtue consists in mediocrity.”