Quotes by Samuel Johnson
At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.
I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.
Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.
He that will enjoy the brightness of sunshine, must quit the coolness of the shade.
No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company.
We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us.
The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty.
Adversity has ever been considered the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself.
Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble.
It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.
A man may be so much of everything that he is nothing of anything.
Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are supplied must admit those of fancy.
All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.
Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth.
The advice that is wanted is commonly not welcome and that which is not wanted, evidently an effrontery.
Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment.
Those who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.
Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.
The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning.
A man of genius has been seldom ruined but by himself.
Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed.
Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.
If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.
What makes all doctrines plain and clear? About two hundred pounds a year. And that which was proved true before, prove false again? Two hundred more.
The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.
