Johnson

   Think of the heroism of Johnson, think of that superb indifference to mortal limitation that set him upon his dictionary, and carried him through triumphantly until the end! Who, if he were wisely considerate of things at large, would ever embark upon any work much more considerable than a halfpenny post-card? Who would project a serial novel, afterThackeray and Dickens had each fallen in mid-course? Who would find heart enough to begin to live, if he dallied with the consideration of death?

—Stevenson, Robert Louis

Johnson approached a strongly fortified position by outflanking it, or burrowing under it, or surprising the defenders from the rear, or raining down obstacles upon them from the sky, or starving them into submission† Rarely, and then only reluctantly, would he proceed directly from A to B, to him the shortest distance between two points was a tunnel.

—Manchester,William Raymond

Dr Johnson's morality was as English an article as a beefsteak.

—Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Chafing in action when his nature yearned to act, conscious of indignitiesreal and imagined,Johnsonwent through three years of slow burn.

—White,Theodore H(arold)

Ispenttwo hourswiththat great man,Dr Johnson, who is sinking into the grave bya gentle decay.

—Wesley,John

You are a philosopher, Dr Johnson. I have tried too in my time to be a philosopher; but, I don't know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in.

—Edwards, Oliver