“Johnson is dead. Let us go to the next best — there is nobody; no man can be said to put you in mind of Johnson.”

— James Boswell, book The Life of Samuel Johnson

Quoting William Gerard Hamilton (1784)
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791)

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James Boswell23

Scottish lawyer, diarist and author 1740–1795

Thomas A. Bailey (1902–1983) American historian

As quoted in The New York Times (November 6, 1966)

“That fabulous polymath Samuel Johnson maintained that no man in his right mind ever read a book through from beginning to end.”

Daniel Bell book The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism

Foreword: 1978, p. xi
The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976)

“Johnson was a dirty fighter. Any campaign with him in it would involve a lot of innuendo and lies. Johnson was a wheeler-dealer. Neither he nor anyone else could change that. That's what he was. And Johnson was a treacherous boot. He'd slap you on the back today and stab you in the back tomorrow. Moreover, LBJ was dull. He was a lousy public speaker. The man didn't believe half of what he said. He was a hypocrite, and it came through in the hollowness of his speech. LBJ made me sick.”

Barry Goldwater (1909–1998) American politician

Goldwater (1988)

“Dr. Blair, relying on the internal evidence of their antiquity, asked Dr. Johnson whether he thought any man of a modern age could have written such poems? Johnson replied, "Yes, Sir, many men, many women, and many children."”

James Macpherson (1736–1796) Scottish writer, poet, translator, and politician

James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), p. 213.
Criticism

“the best part was
pulling down the
shades
stuffing the doorbell
with rags
putting the phone
in the
refrigerator
and going to bed
for 3 or 4
days.
and the next best
part
was
nobody ever
missed
me.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense

“Andrew Johnson lacked Lincoln's qualities of greatness. While Lincoln had been open-minded, willing to listen to criticism, attuned to the currents of northern public opinion, and able to get along with all elements of his party, Johnson was stubborn, deeply racist, and insensitive to the opinions of others. If anyone was responsible for the wreck of his presidency, it was Johnson himself, first by establishing new governments in the South in which blacks had no voice whatsoever, and then refusing, when these governments sought to reduce freedpeople to a situation akin to slavery through the Black Codes, to heed the rising tide of northern concern. As congressional opposition mounted, Johnson refused to budge.”

Eric Foner (1943) American historian

2000s, If Lincoln Hadn't Died (2009)

“Johnson observed, that "he did not care to speak ill of any man behind his back, but he believed the gentleman was an attorney."”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

1770, p. 181
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol II

“Boris Johnson, people always ask me the same question, they say, 'Is Boris a very very clever man pretending to be an idiot?”

Ian Hislop (1960) Satirical comedian, Editor, Television and radio presenter

And I always say, 'No.'
Parkinson, ITV, 19 November 2006.

“Hyrum took a horse, and went immediately to Father Johnson's, for Joseph. He arrived there in the afterpart of the night, and having aroused Joseph, he said, "You must go straight with me to Kirtland; we are having terrible times there, and I want you to come up and see to things."”

Lucy Mack Smith (1775–1856) American religious leader

The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother (1853), "Rigdon's Depression"

“I don’t hold with prophets,” said Alvin. “Near as I can tell, they end up just as dead as the next man.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Seventh Son (1987), Chapter 10.

“Johnson is dead. Let us go to the next best — there is nobody; no man can be said to put you in mind of Johnson.”

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James Boswell23

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