Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson, often referred to as Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". He is also the subject of "the most famous single biographical work in the whole of literature," James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth18 September 1709
Where there is no hope there can be no endeavor
To love one that is great, is almost to be great one's self.
To proceed from one truth to another, and connect distant propositions by regular consequences, is the great prerogative of man
Man is not weak; knowledge is more than equivalent to force.
Let no man rashly determine, that his unwillingness to be pleased is a proof of understanding, unless his superiority appears from less doubtful evidence; for though peevishness may sometimes justly boast its descent from learning or from wit, it is
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
Honesty is not greater where elegance is less.
There is nothing so much seduces reason from vigilance as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman in marriage.
When I was as you are now, towering in the confidence of 21, little did I suspect that I should be at 49, what I now am.
There are minds which easily sink into submission, that look on grandeur with undistinguishing reverence, and discover no defect where there is elevation of rank and affluence of riches
No wise man will go to live in the country, unless he has something to do which can be better done in the country. For instance, if he is to shut himself up for a year to study science, it is better to look out to the fields, than to an opposite wall. Then, if a man walks out in the country, there is nobody to keep him from walking in again: but if a man walks out in London, he is not sure when he will walk in again. A great city is, to be sure, the school for studying life.
Moderation is commonly firm, and firmness is commonly successful.
Frugality may be termed the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance, and the parent of Liberty.