Samuel Johnson Quotes

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Samuel Johnson

Profession : Writer

Birth : September 18, 1709

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

Samuel Johnson

What is easy is seldom excellent.

Samuel Johnson

All theory is against freedom of the will; all experience for it.

Samuel Johnson

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.

Samuel Johnson

No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.

Samuel Johnson

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.

Samuel Johnson

There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money.

Samuel Johnson

Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and... the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use.

Samuel Johnson

Getting money is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.

Samuel Johnson

Let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich.

Samuel Johnson

Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.

Samuel Johnson

He that fails in his endeavors after wealth or power will not long retain either honesty or courage.

Samuel Johnson

He that will enjoy the brightness of sunshine, must quit the coolness of the shade.

Samuel Johnson

Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little.

Samuel Johnson

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.

Samuel Johnson

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.

Samuel Johnson

The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love, like being enlivened with champagne.

Samuel Johnson

Friendship, like love, is destroyed by long absence, though it may be increased by short intermissions.

Samuel Johnson

To keep your secret is wisdom; but to expect others to keep it is folly.

Samuel Johnson

Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.

Samuel Johnson