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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For we that live to please must please to live.

The wild vicissitudes of taste.

Cold approbation gave the ling’ring bays, For those who durst not censure, scarce could praise.

Declamation roar’d, while Passion slept.

When learning’s triumph o’er her barb’rous foes First rear’d the stage, immortal Shakespeare rose; Each change of many-color’d life he drew, Exhausted worlds, and then imagin’d new: Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign, And panting Time toil’d after him in vain.

This mournful truth is ev’rywhere confessed— Slow rises worth, by poverty depress’d. 1

Of all the griefs that harass the distrest, Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest.

Health is so necessary to all the duties, as well as pleasures of life, that the crime of squandering it is equal to the folly.

Read over your compositions and, when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.

In all pointed sentences, some degree of accuracy must be sacrificed to conciseness.

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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.