Samuel Johnson
England
18 Sep 1709 // 13 Dec 1784
Writer
18 Sep 1709 // 13 Dec 1784
Writer
Quotes
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Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent
Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment
Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions
Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified
Language is the dress of thought
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it
Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not
It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time
It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward it, though we know it can never be reached
It is not true that people are naturally equal, for no two people can be together for even a half an hour without one acquiring an evident superiority over the other
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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