Samuel Johnson? James Boswell? William Dodd? Maya Angelou? Arthur C. Clarke? Vermont Royster? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure crafted a fascinating statement about concentration. Here are two versions:
(1) When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.
(2) Nothing so wonderfully concentrates the mind as knowing you are going to be hanged in the morning.
This is a striking remark; however, I have heard that the underlying intent was deception. The literary figure was hiding a secret. Would you please help me determine the creator and the circumstance?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The first statement above was spoken by lexicographer Samuel Johnson, and it was recorded in 1777 by James Boswell in his famous 2-volume biographical work “The Life of Samuel Johnson” which was published in 1791. Interestingly, Johnson’s goal was to mislead.
James Boswell presented the backstory. The man confronting his impending death was William Dodd, an Anglican clergyman who had been convicted of forgery and sentenced to die by hanging. Boswell described Dodd:1
And here is a proper place to give an account of Johnson’s humane and zealous interference in behalf of the Reverend Dr. William Dodd, formerly Prebendary of Brecon and chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty; celebrated as a very popular preacher, an encourager of charitable institutions, and author of a variety of works, chiefly theological. Having unhappily contracted expensive habits of living, partly occasioned by licentiousness of manners, he in an evil hour, when pressed by want of money, and dreading an exposure of his circumstances, forged a bond …
After William Dodd was imprisoned, he contacted Samuel Jonson through an intermediary and requested Johnson’s support to avoid execution. Johnson wrote several pieces which were subsequently ascribed to Dodd. For example, Johnson wrote “Speech to the Recorder of London”. Johnson also wrote “The Convict’s Address to His Unhappy Brethren”, a sermon delivered by Dodd while in prison.
The high quality of the material penned by Johnson led some to doubt that the ascription to Dodd was accurate. When Johnson was asked about Dodd’s authorship he replied in a misleading manner:2
“Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
The above remark implied that Dodd was the author of the material that was written by Johnson. After William Dodd died, Johnson changed his stance. Johnson felt no obligation to keep his authorship secret because Dodd could no longer be helped. Hence, Johnson shared the truth with his biographer James Boswell.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
The phrasing of the quotation has evolved over time. For example, in 1941 the periodical “School and Community” printed a letter from London containing the following:3
Dr. Johnson once said, “Depend upon it, sir, that the knowledge that he is to be hanged in the morning wonderfully concentrates a man’s wits.”
In 1955 science fiction luminary Arthur C. Clarke wrote a preface for his novel “The City and The Stars” which contained the following passage:4
It may or may not be true, as Doctor Johnson stated, that nothing settles a man’s mind so much as the knowledge that he will be hanged in the morning …
In 1960 the “American Bar Association Journal” printed an article which contained another version of the saying:5
It was Dr. Johnson who remarked that “When a man knows he is to be hanged in the morning, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
In 1970 a columnist in “The Wall Street Journal” presented an anonymous instance:6
Nothing so wonderfully concentrates the mind, so someone has remarked, as knowing you are going to be hanged in the morning. But a reasonable approximation thereof can be achieved by the contemplation of major surgery.
In 1981 well-known writer Maya Angelou crafted a thematically related statement:7
If I wanted to write, I had to be willing to develop a kind of concentration found mostly in people awaiting execution. I had to learn technique and surrender my ignorance.
In 1992 a syndicated columnist presented an anonymous instance:8
Nothing so wonderfully concentrates the mind, someone once said, as the prospect of being hanged in a fortnight.
In 2014 an editorial in the financial periodical “Barron’s” credited Johnson with another variant:9
As Dr. Samuel Johnson observed, the prospect of being hanged in a fortnight does wonders for the power of concentration. Even though the politicians have three weeks to their deadline, the pressure is building.
In conclusion, Samuel Johnson deserves credit for the statement recorded by his biographer James Boswell in 1777. Johnson employed the remark to hide the fact that he was the author of some works that had been attributed to William Dodd. After Dodd died, Johnson was willing to tell the full truth. Many variants of the quotation have proliferated. The phrase “hanged in a fortnight” has often been replaced by “hanged in the morning”.
Image Notes: Illustration of tangled rope from Milada Vigerova at Unsplash. The image has been retouched, resized, and cropped.
Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Frank Lynch and his valuable website “The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page” which includes a helpful webpage about Samuel Johnson and William Dodd. Great thanks to Mardy Grothe who mentioned the quotations by Samuel Johnson and Maya Angelou in the July 26, 2026 issue of his newsletter titled “Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week” Grothe presented citations for both quotations on his wonderful website “Dr. Mardy’s Dictionary of Metaphorical Quotations”.
- 1791, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Comprehending an Account of His Studies and Numerous Works, Author: James Boswell, Volume 2 of 2, Diary Date: 1777, Quote Page 134 and 139, Printed by Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, London. (Internet Archive) link ↩︎
- 1791, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Comprehending an Account of His Studies and Numerous Works, Author: James Boswell, Volume 2 of 2, Diary Date: 1777, Quote Page 152, Printed by Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, London. (Internet Archive) link ↩︎
- 1941 September, School and Community, Volume 27, Number 6, A Case for the Classics, Letter from James Binns of London, England, Quote Page 235, Missouri State Teachers Association, Columbia, Missouri. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1956 Copyright, The City and The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke, Section: Preface, Date of Preface: March 1955, Unnumbered Page, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1960 August, American Bar Association Journal, Volume 46, Number 8, The Conduct of an American Appeal by Frederick Bernays Wiener (District of Columbia Bar), Start Page 829, Quote Page 832, Column 2, American Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1970 September 9, The Wall Street Journal, Thinking Things Over by Vermont Royster, Quote Page 18, Column 3, New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎
- 1981 Copyright, The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou, Chapter 2, Quote Page 41, Random House, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1992 April 24, The Arizona Daily Star, A look back at a small town by Paul Greenberg (Los Angeles Times Syndicate), Quote Page 19A, Column 1, Tucson, Arizona. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 2014 March 10, Barron’s, Editorial Comment: Finding a Remedy for the Doc Fix by Thomas G. Donlan, Quote Page 43, Column 2, New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎