Samuel Johnson
England
18 Sep 1709 // 13 Dec 1784
Writer
18 Sep 1709 // 13 Dec 1784
Writer
Quotes
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The future is purchased by the present
The commodiousness of money is indeed great; but there are some advantages which money cannot buy, and which therefore no wise man will by the love of money be tempted to forego
The chains of custom are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken
The care of the critic should be to distinguish error from inability, faults of inexperience from defects of nature
That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there must not only be equal virtue on each part, but virtue of the same kind; not only the same end must be proposed but the same means must be approved by both
Suspicion is not less an enemy to virtue than to happiness; he that is already corrupt is naturally suspicious, and he that becomes suspicious will quickly become corrupt
Surely life, if it be not long, is tedious, since we are forced to call in the assistance of so many trifles to rid us of our time, of that time which never can return
Study requires solitude, and solitude is a state dangerous to those who are too much accustomed to sink into themselves
Some have little power to do good, and have likewise little strength to resist evil
Small debts are like small shot; they are rattling on every side, and can scarcely be escaped without a wound; great debts are like cannon; of loud noise, but little danger
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays