Samuel Johnson Biography

Samuel Johnson, Author
Occup.Author
FromEngland
BornSeptember 18, 1709
DiedDecember 13, 1784
Aged75 years
Typically referred to as Dr. Johnson, is among one of the most essential literary numbers of England: poet, essayist, biographer, lexicographer, is thought about by lots of as the best literary doubter in English. Johnson was possessed of fantastic skill and also a distinct prose design.

Devout Anglican and politically traditional, Dr. Johnson has been referred to as "most certainly one of the most prominent guy of letters in English history".

Regardless of the premium quality of his work and massive star in life, Johnson is mainly born in mind for being the subject of "the most notable instance of biographical art in English letters," namely, the biography written by his friend James Boswell, the Life of Samuel Johnson, which has been completely connected. Recognized for his dazzling conversation, as well as thanks to its several modern biographers are known many stories of Dr. Johnson.

Also, his aphoristic style, its approach based mainly on common sense, and elegance in composing, have actually made ​​​ ​ it the second most mentioned author in the English language after Shakespeare.

Our collection contains 151 quotes who is written / told by Samuel, under the main topics: Marriage - Fitness.

Related authors: Edward Young (Poet), William Hazlitt (Critic), Alexander Pope (Poet), Samuel Richardson (Novelist), Joseph Wood Krutch (Environmentalist), Lord Chesterfield (Statesman), James Boswell (Lawyer)

Samuel Johnson Famous Works:
Source / external links:

151 Famous quotes by Samuel Johnson

Small: The true art of memory is the art of attention
"The true art of memory is the art of attention"
Small: If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left al
"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"
Small: All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his ow
"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"
Small: At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest
"At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest"
Small: Actions are visible, though motives are secret
"Actions are visible, though motives are secret"
Small: A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner
"A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner"
Small: Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own
"Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own"
Small: A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks G
"A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks Greek"
Small: A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince but, one is but an insect, and the other is a
"A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but, one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still"
Small: Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent
"Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent"
Small: Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment
"Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment"
Small: You cannot spend money in luxury without doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them by spend
"You cannot spend money in luxury without doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them by spending it in luxury, than by giving it; for by spending it in luxury, you make them exert industry, whereas by giving it, you keep them idle"
Small: Man alone is born crying, lives complaining, and dies disappointed
"Man alone is born crying, lives complaining, and dies disappointed"
Small: Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise
"Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise"
Small: It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might ha
"It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done"
Small: I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am afraid he is an att
"I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am afraid he is an attorney"
Small: He who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else
"He who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else"
Small: From the middle of life onward, only he remains vitally alive who is ready to die with life
"From the middle of life onward, only he remains vitally alive who is ready to die with life"
Small: By taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing that she made him so ha
"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"
Small: There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they retu
"There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain"
Small: It is dangerous for mortal beauty, or terrestrial virtue, to be examined by too strong a light.
"It is dangerous for mortal beauty, or terrestrial virtue, to be examined by too strong a light. The torch of Truth shows much that we cannot, and all that we would not, see"
Small: The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty
"The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty"
Small: The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be,
"The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are"
Small: One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts
"One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts"
Small: Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment
"Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment"
Small: Nothing flatters a man as much as the happiness of his wife he is always proud of himself as the source
"Nothing flatters a man as much as the happiness of his wife; he is always proud of himself as the source of it"
Small: He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own di
"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"
Small: Words are but the signs of ideas
"Words are but the signs of ideas"
Small: Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor
"Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor"
Small: Wine makes a man more pleased with himself I do not say it makes him more pleasing to others
"Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say it makes him more pleasing to others"
Small: Wine gives a man nothing... it only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost
"Wine gives a man nothing... it only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost"
Small: Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve oclock is a scoundrel
"Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o'clock is a scoundrel"
Small: Where grief is fresh, any attempt to divert it only irritates
"Where grief is fresh, any attempt to divert it only irritates"
Small: Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess
"Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess"
Small: We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expect
"We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting"
Small: We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed
"We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself"
Small: We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us
"We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us"
Small: Treating your adversary with respect is striking soft in battle
"Treating your adversary with respect is striking soft in battle"
Small: To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity
"To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity"
Small: To love one that is great, is almost to be great ones self
"To love one that is great, is almost to be great one's self"
Small: To keep your secret is wisdom but to expect others to keep it is folly
"To keep your secret is wisdom; but to expect others to keep it is folly"
Small: To get a name can happen but to few it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the free
"To get a name can happen but to few; it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the free gift of mankind, which must be deserved before it will be granted, and is at last unwillingly bestowed"
Small: To be idle and to be poor have always been reproaches, and therefore every man endeavors with his utmos
"To be idle and to be poor have always been reproaches, and therefore every man endeavors with his utmost care to hide his poverty from others, and his idleness from himself"
Small: There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that we s
"There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that we still have the power of ingratiating ourselves with the fair sex"
Small: There are charms made only for distant admiration
"There are charms made only for distant admiration"
Small: Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world
"Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world"
Small: You hesitate to stab me with a word, and know not - silence is the sharper sword
"You hesitate to stab me with a word, and know not - silence is the sharper sword"
Small: What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence
"What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence"
Small: There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a go
"There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern"
Small: No man was ever great by imitation
"No man was ever great by imitation"
Next page