Samuel Johnson Wish Quotations

Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made it, the next wish is to change again.

That we must all die, we always knew; I wish I had remembered it sooner.

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

Levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves.

We may have uneasy feelings for seeing a creature in distress without pity; for we have not pity unless we wish to relieve them.

There are people whom one should like very well to drop, but would not wish to be dropped by.

Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place.

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

Every man wishes to be wise, and they who cannot be wise are almost always cunning.

He that wishes to see his country robbed of its rights cannot be a patriot.

Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations from seeing a creature in distress, without pity; but we have not pity unless we wish to relieve him.

We love to overlook the boundaries which we do not wish to pass.

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

The pleasure of expecting enjoyment is often greater than that of obtaining it, and the completion of almost every wish is found a disappointment.

Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists.

Difficult do you call it, Sir? I wish it were impossible.

I do not much wish well to discoveries, for I am always afraid they will end in conquest and robbery.

I wish you would add an index rerum, that when the reader recollects any incident he may easily find it.

It is more reasonable to wish for reputation while it may be enjoyed, as Anacreon calls upon his companions to give him for present use the wine and garlands which they propose to bestow upon his tomb.

The whole world is put in motion by the wish for riches and the dread of poverty.

It requires but little acquaintance with the heart to know that woman's first wish is to be handsome; and that, consequently, the readiest method of obtaining her kindness is to praise her beauty.

I wish there were some cure, like the lover's leap, for all heads of which some single idea has obtained an unreasonable and irregular possession.