Samuel Johnson Quotes
English writer and lexicographer who compiled the great Dictionary of the English Language. Dr. Johnson's conversation, preserved by Boswell, is full of sense, wit and humanity. Below are 15 of the most loved Samuel Johnson quotes, chosen from across their works and letters. Tap Copy on any quote to save or share it.
He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.
Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.
The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
When speculation has done its worst, two and two still make four.
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.
I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.
No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.
Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.
If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone.