Skip to content

Pity is not natural to man. Children are always cruel. Savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason.

— Samuel Johnson

Another quote →

Topics

Sympathy

More quotes by Samuel Johnson

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)

Merriment is always the effect of a sudden impression. The jest which is expected is already destroyed.

The Idler (1758)

A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.

Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)

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

Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)

A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.

The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785)

All Samuel Johnson quotes →

You may also like

A pity beyond all telling
Is hid in the heart of love.

William Butler Yeats The Pity Of Love in The Rose (1893)

O, brother man! fold to thy heart thy brother;
where pity dwells, the peace of God is there.

John Greenleaf Whittier

The craving for sympathy is the common boundary-line between joy and sorrow.

Julius Hare Guesses at Truth (1827)

Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.

Ian Maclaren

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Samuel Johnson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.