Samuel Johnson Quotes

English writer and lexicographer (1709–1784)

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Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 [7 September O.S.] – 13 December 1784) was a British author, linguist and lexicographer. He is often referred to as simply Dr. Johnson in the history of literature and is regarded as the greatest man of letters in English history.

Bio from: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Portrait adapted from: Wikimedia Commons, Joshua Reynolds (Public domain / CC0)

Alternative Names: Dr Johnson • Dr. Johnson • Great Moralist

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Engraved portrait of Samuel Johnson, facing left

Melancholy, indeed, should be diverted by every means but drinking.

Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen.

In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath.

I never take a nap after dinner but when I have had a bad night; and then the nap takes me.

Was ever poet so trusted before?

Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place where he is not known. Don't let him go to the devil, where he is known.

Much may be made of a Scotchman if he be caught young.

I am a great friend to public amusements; for they keep people from vice.

I do not know, sir, that the fellow is an infidel; but if he be an infidel, he is an infidel as a dog is an infidel; that is to say, he has never thought upon the subject.

A very unclubable man.

This was a good dinner enough, to be sure, but it was not a dinner to ask a man to.

I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else.

Sir, your levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves.

Sir, I think all Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, agree in the essential articles, and that their differences are trivial, and rather political than religious.

I am glad that he thanks God for anything.