Quotes from Samuel Johnson

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him.

By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.

Those that have done nothing in life, are not qualified to judge of those that have done little

Hides from himself his state, and shuns to know That life protracted is protracted woe.

The truly strong and sound mind is the mind that can embrace equally great things and small.

The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning.

If one was to think constantly of death, the business of life would stand still

The longer we live the more we think and the higher the value we put on friendship and tenderness towards parents and friends.

The business of life summons us away from useless grief, and calls us to the exercise of those virtues of which we are lamenting our deprivation.

These papers of the day have uses more adequate to the purposes of common life than more pompous and durable volumes.

The arguments for purity of life fail of their due influence, not because they have been considered and confuted, but because they have been passed over without consideration.

Ladies, stock and tend your hive, Trifle not at thirty-five; For, howe'er we boast and strive, Life declines from thirty-five; He that ever hopes to thrive Must begin by thirty-five.

I inherited a vile melancholy from my father, which has made me mad all my life, at least not sober.

The uncertainty of death is, in effect, the great support of the whole system of life.

Whoever shall review his life, will find that the whole tenor of his conduct has been determined by some accident of no apparent moment.

Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things to help rid us of our time, which will never return.

Health is so necessary to all the duties, as well as pleasures of life, that the crime of squandering it is equal to the folly.

Catch, then, oh! catch the transient hour, Improve each moment as it flies; Life's a short summer-man a flower; He dies-alas! how soon he dies!

Those whose abilities or knowledge incline them most to deviate from the general round of life are recalled from eccentricity by the laws of their existence.

Prudence is an attitude that keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy.

The great source of pleasure is variety.

The disturbers of our happiness, in this world, are our desires, our griefs, and our fears.

Life will not bear refinement. You must do as other people do.

I am sorry I have not learnt to play at cards. It is very useful in life: it generates kindness, and consolidates society.