Remarks by Samuel Johnson | V2Melody Quotations

Search

Topic

Choose another topic

Showing 10 of 10 matching remarks

“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.”

Distinguishing effortless consumption from the deeper demands of serious reading · Idler No. 30

“The true art of memory is the art of attention.”

Linking memory less to tricks than to disciplined attention · Idler No. 74

“Study requires solitude, and solitude is a state dangerous to those who are too much accustomed to sink into themselves.”

Recognising both the necessity and the psychological danger of prolonged solitude · Rambler No. 89

“Curiosity, like all other desires, produces pain as well as pleasure.”

Acknowledging the double edge of the desire to know · Rambler No. 161

“Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last; and perhaps always predominates in proportion to the strength of the contemplative faculties.”

Making curiosity a lifelong companion of reflective intelligence · Rambler No. 150

“Curiosity is the thirst of the soul; it inflames and torments us, and makes us taste every thing with joy, however otherwise insipid, by which it may be quenched.”

Describing curiosity as both hunger and pleasure · Rambler No. 103

“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.”

Presenting curiosity as a defining sign of an active mind · Rambler No. 103

“Sir, a desire of knowledge is the natural feeling of mankind; and every human being, whose mind is not debauched, will be willing to give all that he has, to get knowledge.”

Affirming curiosity and learning as deep human impulses · Boswell, Life of Johnson

“Sir, I have found you an argument; but I am not obliged to find you an understanding.”

A sharp distinction between offering reasons and securing another person's comprehension · Boswell, Life of Johnson

“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.”

Treating the ability to locate knowledge as a form of knowledge in itself · Boswell, Life of Johnson