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Who really said it

A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair

Spoken by Samuel Johnson 1709–1784 · English author & lexicographer; recorded by James Boswell
Verified Free to reuse

Johnson said this to Sir Joshua Reynolds; James Boswell recorded it in his ‘Life of Samuel Johnson’ (1791), within the section covering the year 1755. The popular wording matches the primary text verbatim — it is a genuine Johnson remark, not a paraphrase.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair” — Samuel Johnson, recorded in James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)

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Provenance

The source

Work
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
Author / recorder
James Boswell (from Johnson’s spoken words)
First published
1791
Spoken to
Sir Joshua Reynolds

The proposition which I have now endeavoured to illustrate was, at a subsequent period of his life, the opinion of Johnson himself. He said to Sir Joshua Reynolds, ‘If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.’

Boswell places the remark within his narrative for the year 1755, but notes Johnson made it “at a subsequent period of his life” — so the exact date of the conversation with Reynolds is not fixed.

Boswell’s Life of Johnson, the year 1755 (Jack Lynch transcription)

How we traced it

  • Quote Investigator has not published a dedicated inquiry, but Wikiquote’s sourced section lists the line as genuine, crediting Boswell’s ‘Life of Johnson.’
  • We confirmed the exact wording against a scholarly transcription of the 1755 section of Boswell’s text at Jack Lynch’s Rutgers edition, which reads “in constant repair” verbatim.
  • The remark is Boswell reporting Johnson’s spoken words to Sir Joshua Reynolds — it is not from Johnson’s own essays or letters, and Boswell inserts it to illustrate the value of keeping up acquaintance.
Public domain

The line comes from James Boswell’s ‘Life of Samuel Johnson’, first published in 1791 — long before the 1931 cutoff — so both Johnson’s reported words and Boswell’s text are in the public domain in the United States.

Fact-check

A genuine quote — but watch the wording

Unusually for a “Samuel Johnson” quote, this one is real. The confusion here is not who said it but how it is quoted and credited.

“in a constant repair” variant

Some references, including Wikiquote, print “in a constant repair.” The scholarly transcription of Boswell’s text reads “in constant repair” without the article, which matches the most common popular form.

Johnson’s own writing misframed

The line is often quoted as though from an essay or letter Johnson wrote. It is actually his reported speech, recorded by James Boswell — we owe the sentence to Boswell’s biography, not to Johnson’s pen.

“the year 1755” context

Boswell records the remark in his 1755 chapter, so it is sometimes dated to 1755; but Boswell himself says Johnson made it “at a subsequent period of his life,” so the precise date of the conversation is unknown.

The quotation is authentic: Johnson said it to Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Boswell preserved it in the Life of Johnson (1791).

Context

Why it endures

Johnson’s point is that friendship is not a possession but a practice. Left untended, even close bonds decay; new acquaintance must be made as life advances, or “a man … will soon find himself left alone.” The metaphor of “repair” casts a friendship as a structure needing continual upkeep — a strikingly modern idea about the work relationships require.

The saying carries extra weight because of who preserved it. Johnson and Boswell’s own friendship, and Johnson’s decades-long bond with the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds to whom the remark was addressed, were themselves models of the kind of maintained affection the line describes.

“A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.”

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Friendship

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Boswell’s Life of Johnson, 1755 (Jack Lynch / Rutgers)jacklynch.net

Scholarly transcription confirming the verbatim wording in context.
Samuel Johnson — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Lists the quote in its sourced section, credited to Boswell’s Life.
Boswell’s Life of Johnson — full textgutenberg.org

Complete public-domain text of Boswell’s biography.
The Life of Samuel Johnson — Wikisourceen.wikisource.org

Public-domain edition of Boswell’s work for cross-checking.
The Johnson–Reynolds friendship — Birthplace Museumsamueljohnsonbirthplace.org.uk

Background on the Johnson–Reynolds friendship this remark was addressed to.

The true author

About Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

1709–1784 · English author, lexicographer & critic

Samuel Johnson was one of the towering figures of 18th-century English letters — poet, essayist, critic, and compiler of the landmark A Dictionary of the English Language (1755). Renowned for his aphoristic conversation, he is among the most-quoted figures in the language, largely because his friend James Boswell recorded his talk in extraordinary detail. This remark on friendship is one such recorded saying, addressed to the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (London: Charles Dilly, 1791), under the year 1755 — Johnson’s remark to Sir Joshua Reynolds.

MLA (9th ed.)

Boswell, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Charles Dilly, 1791.

APA (7th ed.)

Boswell, J. (1791). The life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Charles Dilly.

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/a-man-sir-should-keep-his-friendship-in-constant-repair

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