2,116 Quotes by Samuel Johnson

He was dull in a new way, and that made many think him great.

The first step to greatness is to be honest.

No man sympathizes with the sorrows of vanity.

To revenge reasonable incredulity by refusing evidence, is a degree of insolence with which the world is not yet acquainted; and stubborn audacity is the last refuge of guilt.

A lexicographer, a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge.

The joy of life is variety; the tenderest love requires to be rekindled by intervals of absence.

In all evils which admits a remedy, impatience should be avoided, because it wastes the time and attention in complaints which, if properly applied, might remove the cause.

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

The prospect of penury in age is so gloomy and terrifying that every man who looks before him must resolve to avoid it; and it must be avoided generally by the science of sparing.