Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble.
Samuel Johnson

Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.
Samuel Johnson

At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.
Samuel Johnson

Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives.
Samuel Johnson

Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.
Samuel Johnson

Between falsehood and useless truth there is little difference. As gold which he cannot spend will make no man rich, so knowledge which cannot apply will make no man wise.
Samuel Johnson

Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.
Samuel Johnson

Books that you carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are most useful after all.
Samuel Johnson

Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed.
Samuel Johnson

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

By taking a second wife he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing that she made him so happy as a married man, that he wishes to be so a second time.
Samuel Johnson

Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.
Samuel Johnson

Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.
Samuel Johnson

Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.
Samuel Johnson

Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for where there is nothing but pure misery there never is any recourse to the mention of it.
Samuel Johnson

Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.
Samuel Johnson

Disease generally begins that equality which death completes.
Samuel Johnson

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.
Samuel Johnson

Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments.
Samuel Johnson

Every man who attacks my belief, diminishes in some degree my confidence in it, and therefore makes me uneasy; and I am angry with him who makes me uneasy.
Samuel Johnson