The great source of pleasure is variety. Uniformity must tire at last, though it be uniformity of excellence. We love to expect; and when expectation is disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting.

Samuel Johnson

More information about this quote

Topic

Variety Anticipation Monotony

Author

Samuel Johnson

Source

Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

Language

English

Time

1781 1780s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Occupation

Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Johnson, Samuel. "Butler." Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. London: C. Bathurst, et al., 1781.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Samuel Johnson

Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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More information about this quote
Topic
Rhetoric
Speaker
Samuel Johnson

Author

James Boswell
Source
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D
Genre
Biography
Language
English
Time
1763 1760s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 31 July 1763.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

Another quote from the 1780s

Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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More information about this quote
Topic
Counterfactual history Inflection points Christianity and Islam

Author

Edward Gibbon
Source
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Genre
Historical literature
Language
English
Time
1789 1780s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. 6, London: Strahan & Cadell, 1789, ch. 52.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 6. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 52.

Another quote from Age of Enlightenment

In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain... And the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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More information about this quote
Topic
State of nature Anarchy Government

Author

Thomas Hobbes
Source
Leviathan
Genre
Political literature Philosophical literature
Language
English
Time
1651 1650s 17th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 1, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 1, ch. 13.