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Samuel Johnson 1709 - 1784 |
American-born writer and critic, resident in London, England, who published the journals The Rambler (1750-1752) and The Idler (1758-1760), which are still frequently quoted today. |
| How small, of all that human hearts endure, that part which laws or kings can cause or cure! quoted by Steve Forbes in "The Moral Basis of a Free Society", his 1997 address to the Heritage Foundation |
| It is better that some should be unhappy than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality. 1777 - quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D by James Boswell |
| ... there is all the difference in the world between characters of nature and characters of manners ... quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D by James Boswell |
| Hell is paved with good intentions. |
| Great works are performed, not by strength but perseverance. |
| Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test. 1777 - quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D by James Boswell |
| [popular discourse] ... they do not mean to lie; but, taking no pains to be exact, they give you very false accounts. Sep. 14, 1777 - quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D by James Boswell |
| The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. |