Quote #185

I have two very cogent reasons for not printing any list of subscribers; - one, that I have lost all the names, - the other, that I have spent all the money.

More from Samuel Johnson

  1. A jest breaks no bones.
  2. Always, Sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, wil…
  3. My friend was of opinion that when a man of rank appeared in that character [as an author], he deserved to have his merit handsomely allowe…
  4. To let friendship die away by negligence and silence, is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts o…
  5. Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.
  6. Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it m…
  7. Mrs. Montagu has dropt me. Now, Sir, there are people whom one should like very well to drop, but would not wish to be dropped by.
  8. A man may be so much of every thing, that he is nothing of any thing.

All Samuel Johnson quotes