The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 2, p. 475 (27 March 1776)
If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in his hand, no doubt we should pity the
state of his mind; but our primary consideration would be to take care of ourselves. We should
knock him down first, and pity him afterwards.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 11 (3 April 1776)
We would all be idle if we could.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 13 (3 April 1776)
No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 19 (5 April 1776)
It is better that some should be unhappy than that none should be happy, which would be the
case in a general state of equality.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 26 (7 April 1776)
A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having
seen what it is expected a man should see.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 36 (11 April 1776)
[Boswell:] Sir, what is poetry?
[Johnson:] Why Sir, it is much easier to say what it is not. We all know what light is; but it is
not easy to tell what it is.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 38 (12 April 1776)
Every man of any education would rather be called a rascal, than accused of deficiency in the
graces.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 54 (May 1776)
Sir, you have but two topics, yourself and me. I am sick of both.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 57 (May 1776)
Olivarii Goldsmith,
Poetae, Physici, Historici,
Qui nullum fere scribendi genus
Non tetigit,
Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit.
To Oliver Goldsmith, A Poet, Naturalist, and Historian, who left scarcely any style of writing
untouched, and touched none that he did not adorn.
Epitaph on Goldsmith, in James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 82 (22 June 1776)
If I had no duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend my life in driving briskly in a
post-chaise with a pretty woman.
In James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 162 (19 September 1777)
Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his
mind wonderfully.
On the execution of Dr Dodd, in James Boswell ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791) vol. 3, p. 167 (19
September 1777)
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.