← Back to quotes

Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates… — Samuel Johnson

Biography

Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Samuel Johnson
Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell · 1777
★ 3.7
Other tags relating to this quote
Topic
Impending deathDeathFocus
Genre
Biography
Time
1777Age of Enlightenment
Person
Samuel Johnson
Provenance
Current citation
Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.
Original citation
Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 19 Sept. 1777.

Related quotes

Other quotes that share a subject, a time, or a voice with this one.

Other media

Works in other forms that share a subject with this one.

Other media onSubject·Death