2,116 Quotes by Samuel Johnson

Pleasure itself is not a vice

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.

The essence of poetry is invention; such invention as, by producing something unexpected, surprises and delights.

Such is the constitution of Man that labor may be said to be its own re-ward.

John Wesley's conversation is good, but he is never at leisure. He is always obliged to go at a certain hour. This is very disagreeable to a man who loves to fold his legs and have his talk out as I do.

A country gentleman should bring his lady to visit London as soon as he can, that they may have agreeable topicks for conversation when they are by themselves.

Subordination tends greatly to human happiness. Were we all upon an equality, we should have no other enjoyment than mere animal pleasure.

Towering is the confidence of twenty-one.

To talk in public, to think in solitude, to read and to hear, to inquire and answer inquiries, is the business of the scholar