Johnsoniana: Life, Opinions, and Table-talk of Doctor JohnsonA. Boot, 1884 - 319 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 31
Page 27
... look , and in a solemn but a quiet tone , " That creature was its own tormentor , and I believe its name was BOSWELL . " Talking of constitutional melancholy , he observed : “ A man so afflicted , sir , must divert distressing thoughts ...
... look , and in a solemn but a quiet tone , " That creature was its own tormentor , and I believe its name was BOSWELL . " Talking of constitutional melancholy , he observed : “ A man so afflicted , sir , must divert distressing thoughts ...
Page 28
... look at his watch like a greyhound bounding at a hare . " When Johnson took leave of Mr. Hector , he said , " Don't grow like Congreve ; nor let me grow like him , when you are near me . ” He gave Dr. Taylor the same sad account of ...
... look at his watch like a greyhound bounding at a hare . " When Johnson took leave of Mr. Hector , he said , " Don't grow like Congreve ; nor let me grow like him , when you are near me . ” He gave Dr. Taylor the same sad account of ...
Page 36
... look into all the chambers but one . ' But we should have the greatest inclination to look into that chamber - to talk of that subject . " JOHNSON . ( with a loud voice ) " Sir , I am not saying that you could live in friend- ship with ...
... look into all the chambers but one . ' But we should have the greatest inclination to look into that chamber - to talk of that subject . " JOHNSON . ( with a loud voice ) " Sir , I am not saying that you could live in friend- ship with ...
Page 56
... look up as to their leaders . But I am for leaving a quantity of land in commerce , to excite industry and keep money in the country ; for if no land were to be bought in the country , there would be no encouragement to acquire wealth ...
... look up as to their leaders . But I am for leaving a quantity of land in commerce , to excite industry and keep money in the country ; for if no land were to be bought in the country , there would be no encouragement to acquire wealth ...
Page 68
... look upon it that he who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else . " Boswell adds : " He now appears ... looks seemed rivetted to his plate ; nor would he , unless when in very high company , say one word , or even pay the ...
... look upon it that he who does not mind his belly will hardly mind anything else . " Boswell adds : " He now appears ... looks seemed rivetted to his plate ; nor would he , unless when in very high company , say one word , or even pay the ...
Common terms and phrases
answered appeared asked Beauclerk believe better blank verse bookseller Boswell mentioned Boswell talked character church Colley Cibber common consider conversation David Garrick Dictionary dine drinking eminent England English exclaimed expressed fellow Garrick genius gentleman give Goldsmith happy honour human humour instance Jacobite JOHNSON king king of Prussia lady Langton language laugh learning Lichfield literary live London lord Lord Bute lord Chesterfield Lord Mansfield lord Monboddo madam mankind manner marriage means merit mind moral nature never observed occasion once opinion Pembroke college perhaps pleased poem poet poetry poor Pope praise pretty woman religion remarked replied Scotch Scotland Sir Joshua Sir Joshua Reynolds speak strong suppose sure tell thing thought Thrale tion told truth verses Whig wine wish woman wonder words write wrong
Popular passages
Page 260 - If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Page 194 - I believe, Sir, you have a great many. Norway, too, has noble wild prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!
Page 287 - Of genius, that power which constitutes a poet; that quality without which judgment is cold, and knowledge is inert; that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates; the superiority must, with some hesitation, be allowed to Dryden.
Page 30 - Madness frequently discovers itself merely by unnecessary deviation from the usual modes of the world. My poor friend Smart showed the disturbance of his mind, by falling upon his knees, and saying his prayers in the street, or in any other unusual place. Now although, rationally speaking, it is greater madness not to pray at all than to pray as Smart did, I am afraid there are so many who do not pray that their understanding is not called in question.
Page 83 - Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists.
Page 286 - In his Night Thoughts he has exhibited a very wide display of original poetry, variegated with deep reflections and striking allusions, a wilderness of thought, in which the fertility of fancy scatters flowers of every hue and of every odour. This is one of the few poems in which blank verse could not be changed for rhyme but with disadvantage.
Page 287 - If the flights of Dryden therefore, are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing. If of Dryden's fire the blaze is brighter, of Pope's the heat is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual delight.
Page 84 - They, whose narrow minds are contracted to the consideration of some one particular pursuit, view it only through that medium. A politician thinks of it merely as the seat of government in its different departments ; a grazier, as a vast market for cattle ; a mercantile man, as a place where a prodigious deal of business is done upon 'Change ; a...
Page 16 - All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable, that I would not rather know it than not. In the same manner, all power, of whatever sort, is of itself desirable. A man would not submit to learn to hem a ruffle...
Page 287 - Pope had, in proportions very nicely adjusted to each other, all the qualities that constitute genius. He had Invention, by which new trains of events are formed, and new scenes of imagery displayed, as in the Rape of the Lock; and by which extrinsick and adventitious embellishments and illustrations are connected with a known subject, as in the Essay on Criticism...