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Samuel Johnson on Independence Day

1709–1784 England

← All quotes by Samuel Johnson

8 quotes

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)

An individual may, indeed, forfeit his liberty by a crime; but he cannot by that crime forfeit the liberty of his children.

Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)

Liberty is, to the lowest rank of every nation, little more than the choice of working or starving.

Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it.

Slavery is now no where more patiently endured, than in countries once inhabited by the zealots of liberty.

The Idler (1758)

That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775)

Frugality may be termed the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance and the parent of Liberty.

The Rambler (1750)

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.

Misattributed

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Samuel Johnson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.