A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.
In plain words
Read what excites you, not just what you're told to. That's when reading actually helps you.
Where these words come from
- 60% sureLots of sources credit Samuel Johnson with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
- Recorded conversation of 14 July 1763 in Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson (1791). Boswell's contemporaneous record is a real named work, but not a work BY Johnson — testimony class, held at likely per the house Bohr precedent.
- Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson
- 1763 · conversation recorded by James Boswell
More from Samuel Johnson
See allFew things are impossible to diligence and skill.
Samuel JohnsonHe is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.Samuel JohnsonKnowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.Samuel JohnsonThere is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.Samuel JohnsonWhen a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.Samuel JohnsonThe true, strong, and sound mind is the mind that can embrace equally great things and small.Samuel Johnson
Samuel JohnsonHe is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.Samuel JohnsonKnowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.Samuel JohnsonThere is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.Samuel JohnsonWhen a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.Samuel JohnsonThe true, strong, and sound mind is the mind that can embrace equally great things and small.Samuel JohnsonMore on stories
A single conversation with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.Chinese proverbDo not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.
ErasmusReading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body.
Joseph AddisonBooks think for me.
Charles LambOne child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.
Malala YousafzaiI had now the key to all language, and I was eager to learn to use it.
Helen Keller
ErasmusReading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body.Joseph AddisonBooks think for me.Charles LambOne child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.Malala YousafzaiI had now the key to all language, and I was eager to learn to use it.Helen Keller