John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
4020 Samuel Johnson 1709-1784 John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 4020 |
| AUTHOR: | Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) |
| QUOTATION: | I am not so lost in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the sons of heaven. 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Preface to his Dictionary. |
| Note 1. The italics and the word “forget” would seem to imply that the saying was not his own. [back] |