Life of Johnson: Including Their Tour to the Hebrides |
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Page 1
... never had persevering dili- gence enough to form them into a regular composition . Of these memorials a few have been preserved ; but the greater part was con- signed by him to the flames , a few days before his death . As I had the ...
... never had persevering dili- gence enough to form them into a regular composition . Of these memorials a few have been preserved ; but the greater part was con- signed by him to the flames , a few days before his death . As I had the ...
Page 9
... never thought to raise me by comparing me to any one ; they never said , Johnson is as good a scholar as such a one , but such a one is as good a scholar as Johnson ; and this was said but of one , but of Lowe ; and I do not think he ...
... never thought to raise me by comparing me to any one ; they never said , Johnson is as good a scholar as such a one , but such a one is as good a scholar as Johnson ; and this was said but of one , but of Lowe ; and I do not think he ...
Page 19
... never received my notions with contempt . He was a Whig , with all the virulence and malevolence of his party ; yet difference of opinion did not keep us apart . I honoured him , and he endured me . " He had mingled with the gay world ...
... never received my notions with contempt . He was a Whig , with all the virulence and malevolence of his party ; yet difference of opinion did not keep us apart . I honoured him , and he endured me . " He had mingled with the gay world ...
Page 47
... never printed . I think it will not do by it- self , or in any other place , so well as the Mag . Extraordinary . If you will have it all , I believe you do not think I set it high ; and I will be glad if what you give you will give ...
... never printed . I think it will not do by it- self , or in any other place , so well as the Mag . Extraordinary . If you will have it all , I believe you do not think I set it high ; and I will be glad if what you give you will give ...
Page 71
... never feeble , and he did not wish to be energetic ; he is never rapid , and he never stagnates . His sentences have neither studied amplitude , nor affected brevity : his periods , though not diligently rounded , are voluble and easy ...
... never feeble , and he did not wish to be energetic ; he is never rapid , and he never stagnates . His sentences have neither studied amplitude , nor affected brevity : his periods , though not diligently rounded , are voluble and easy ...
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintance admiration afterwards anecdote antè appears believe Bishop bookseller Boswell Boswell's called Cave character College conversation CROKER David Garrick DEAR SIR death Dictionary died doubt edition eminent Essay fancy favour Garrick gentleman Gentleman's Magazine give Goldsmith happy Hawkins honour hope humble servant JAMES BOSWELL Johnson JOSEPH WARTON kind King lady Langton late Latin learned letter Lichfield literary lived London Lord Chesterfield Lord Gower Lucy Porter MALONE manner ment mentioned mind Miss never obliged observed occasion opinion Oxford paper Paul Whitehead Pembroke College perhaps person Piozzi pleased pleasure poem poet Pope probably published Rambler recollect remarkable Samuel Johnson Savage Scotland seems Shakspeare Sir John Hawkins Sir Joshua Reynolds style suppose talk tell thing THOMAS WARTON thought Thrale tion told translation truth verses Warton wish write written wrote
Popular passages
Page 80 - I had exhausted all the art of pleasing which a retired and uncourtly scholar can possess. I had done all that I could, and no man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.
Page 80 - Is not a patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground encumbers him with help...
Page 354 - That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona.
Page 80 - The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that to a Patron which Providence has enabled me to do for myself.
Page 53 - Implore His aid, in His decisions rest, Secure whate'er He gives, He gives the best. Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires, And strong devotion to the skies aspires, Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind, Obedient passions, and a will resign'd...
Page 142 - Madam, I am now become a convert to your way of thinking. I am convinced that all mankind are upon an equal footing; and to give you an unquestionable proof, Madam, that I am in earnest, here is a very sensible, civil, well-behaved fellowcitizen, your footman; I desire that he may be allowed to sit down and dine with us.
Page 180 - True, (answered the Earl, with a smile,) but he would have been a dancing bear." To obviate all the reflections which have gone round the world to Johnson's prejudice, by applying to him the epithet of a bear, let me impress upon my readers a just and happy saying of my friend Goldsmith, who knew him well : " Johnson, to be sure, has a roughness in his manner : but no man alive has a more tender heart. He has nothing of the bear but his skin.
Page 195 - Nature's signal for retreat," from this state of being to " a happier seat," his thoughts upon this awful change were in general full of dismal apprehensions. His mind resembled the vast amphitheatre, the Coliseum at Rome. In the centre stood his judgment, which, like a mighty gladiator, combated those apprehensions that, like the wild beasts of the Arena, were all around in cells, ready to be let out upon him. After a conflict, he drives them back into their dens ; but not killing them, they were...
Page 159 - Our own felicity we make or find : With secret course, which no loud storms annoy, Glides the smooth current of domestic joy. The lifted axe, the agonizing wheel, Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel, To men remote from power but rarely known, Leave reason, faith, and conscience, all our own.
Page 194 - Why, sir, it is a very harmless doctrine. They are of opinion that the generality of mankind are neither so obstinately wicked as to deserve everlasting punishment, nor so good as to merit being admitted into the society of blessed spirits ; and therefore that God is graciously pleased to allow of a middle state, where they may be purified by certain degrees of suffering. You see, sir, there is nothing unreasonable in this.