Samuel Johnson

Birth: 1709-09-18 , Lichfield

Death: 1784-12-13 , Londres

Samuel Johnson was a prominent 18th-century English writer, lexicographer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He is widely regarded as one of the most important literary figures in British history, famous for his 'A Dictionary of the English Language'.

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You may scold a carpenter who has made you a bad table, though you cannot make a table. It is not your trade to make tables.

That is the happiest conversation where there is no competition, no vanity, but a calm quiet interchange of sentiments.

There is no being so poor and so contemptible, who does not think there is somebody still poorer, and still more contemptible.

It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.

A man had rather have a hundred lies told of him than one truth which he does not wish should be told.

No man is much pleased with a companion who does not increase, in some respect, his fondness of himself.

I have always considered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is able to maintain.

Every man speaks and writes with intent to be understood; and it can seldom happen but he that understands himself might convey his notions to another, if, content to be understood, he did not seek to be admired.

One of the amusements of idleness is reading without the fatigue of close attention; and the world, therefore, swarms with writers whose wish is not to be studied, but to be read.

Nobody can write the life of a man but those who have eaten and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him.

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Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784) was an English writer who became one of the most celebrated intellectuals of his time. Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, he struggled with ill health and financial difficulties for much of his life. His most influential work, 'A Dictionary of the English Language' (1755), was a landmark in English lexicography, defining the vocabulary and spelling of the language. Johnson also produced insightful essays, sermons, poems, and biographies, including 'Lives of the Poets'. He was a central figure in London's literary circles, known for his sharp wit, brilliant conversation, and strong opinions. His life and work were immortalized in James Boswell's 'Life of Samuel Johnson', one of the most important biographies in English literature.