Quotes by Samuel Johnson with world

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

English writer

Lived from: 1709 - 1784

Category: Writers (Contemporary) Country: FlagUnited Kingdom

Born: 18 september 1709 Died: 13 december 1784

  • The real satisfaction which praise can afford, is when what is repeated aloud agrees with the whispers of conscience, by showing us that we have not endeavored to deserve well in vain.
  • 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.
  • Every other enjoyment malice may destroy; every other panegyric envy may withhold; but no human power can deprive the boaster of his own encomiums.
  • Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price.
  • Books that you carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are most useful after all.
  • Cruel with guilt, and daring with despair, the midnight murderer bursts the faithless bar; invades the sacred hour of silent rest and leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast.
  • His scorn of the great is repeated too often to be real; no man thinks much of that which he despises.
  • Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.
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  • Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • Ah! Sir, a boy's being flogged is not so severe as a man's having the hiss of the world against him.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • Don't think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drive into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • I had rather see the portrait of a dog that I know, than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • I would advise you Sir, to study algebra, if you are not already an adept in it: your head would be less muddy, and you will leave off tormenting your neighbors about paper and packthread, while we all live together in a world that is bursting with sin and sorrow.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • I would rather see the portrait of a dog that I know, than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentionally lying that there is so much falsehood in the world.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • Politics are now nothing more than means of rising in the world. With this sole view do men engage in politics, and their whole conduct proceeds upon it.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made it, the next wish is to change again. The world is not yet exhausted; let me see something tomorrow which I never saw before.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • That observation which is called knowledge of the world will be found much more frequently to make men cunning than good.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • The wise man applauds he who he thinks most virtuous; the rest of the world applauds the wealthy.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • The world will never be long without some good reason to hate the unhappy; their real faults are immediately detected, and if those are not sufficient to sink them into infamy, an additional weight of calumny will be super added.
    ― Samuel Johnson
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  • There are innumerable questions to which the inquisitive mind can in this state receive no answer: Why do you and I exist? Why was this world created? Since it was to be created, why was it not created sooner?
    ― Samuel Johnson
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What are the most famous quotes from Samuel Johnson?

The two most famous quotes from Samuel Johnson are:

  • "Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment."
  • "Ah! Sir, a boy's being flogged is not so severe as a man's having the hiss of the world against him."

When did Samuel Johnson live?

Samuel Johnson was born in 1709 and died in the year 1784.