The Works of Samuel Johnson, L. L. D.: In Twelve Volumes, Volume 4Hastings, Etheridge and Bliss, 1811 |
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Page 11
... equally strange , or by means equally inadequate . When we pity him , we reflect on our own disappointments ; and when we laugh , our hearts inform us that he is not more ridiculous than ourselves , except that he tells what we have ...
... equally strange , or by means equally inadequate . When we pity him , we reflect on our own disappointments ; and when we laugh , our hearts inform us that he is not more ridiculous than ourselves , except that he tells what we have ...
Page 13
... equally pleased with their own produc- tions , equally caressed by their patrons , and flattered by their friends . But though it should happen that an author is capa- ble of excelling , yet his merit may pass without notice , huddled ...
... equally pleased with their own produc- tions , equally caressed by their patrons , and flattered by their friends . But though it should happen that an author is capa- ble of excelling , yet his merit may pass without notice , huddled ...
Page 15
... equally mingled , that Criticism stood with her sceptre poised in her hand , in doubt whether to shed lethe , or ambro- sia , upon them . These at last increased to so great a number , that she was weary of attending such doubtful ...
... equally mingled , that Criticism stood with her sceptre poised in her hand , in doubt whether to shed lethe , or ambro- sia , upon them . These at last increased to so great a number , that she was weary of attending such doubtful ...
Page 19
... equally beyond his sphere of activity ; and he amused himself with heroes and with traitors , de- liverers and persecutors , as with beings of another spe- cies , whose actions were regulated upon motives of their own , and who had ...
... equally beyond his sphere of activity ; and he amused himself with heroes and with traitors , de- liverers and persecutors , as with beings of another spe- cies , whose actions were regulated upon motives of their own , and who had ...
Page 21
... equally conspicuous ; and as we accompany them through their adventures with de- light , and are led by degrees to interest ourselves in their favor , we lose the abhorrence of their faults , be cause they do not hinder our pleasure ...
... equally conspicuous ; and as we accompany them through their adventures with de- light , and are led by degrees to interest ourselves in their favor , we lose the abhorrence of their faults , be cause they do not hinder our pleasure ...
Common terms and phrases
acquaintance amusements appearance APRIL 24 beauty calamities censure common consider contempt conversation danger daugh delight demnation desire discover ELPHINSTON eminent endeavor envy Epictetus equally evils excellence expected eyes favor fear folly fortune frequently gain genius give happen happiness heart hinder honor hope hopes and fears human imagination incited indulge innu inquire Jupiter kind knowledge labor lady learning lence less lest lives look mankind marriage means ment mind miscarriage misery modelling armies moral narchs nature neglect nerally ness never objects observed once opinion ourselves OVID pain passed passions perhaps Periander perpetual PERSIUS pleasing pleasure portunity praise precepts priva produce Prudentius racter Rambler reason reflection regard reproach rience SATURDAY seldom sion soon sophism suffer tell thing thought tion told TUESDAY vanity virtue wish write young
Popular passages
Page 363 - By degrees we let fall the remembrance of our original intention, and quit the only adequate object of rational desire. We entangle ourselves in business, immerge ourselves in luxury, and rove through the labyrinths of inconstancy, till the darkness of old age begins to invade us, and disease and anxiety obstruct our way.
Page 19 - But when an adventurer is levelled with the rest of the world, and acts in such scenes of the universal drama, as may be the lot of any other man; young spectators fix their eyes upon him with closer attention, and hope by observing his behaviour and success to regulate their own practices, when they shall be engaged in the like part.
Page 43 - Evil into the mind of God or man May come and go, so unapproved, and leave No spot or blame behind...
Page 363 - ... yet remains one effort to be made ; that reformation is never hopeless, nor sincere endeavours ever unassisted, that the wanderer may at length return after all his errors, and that he who implores strength and courage from above, shall find danger and difficulty give way before him. Go now, my son, to thy repose, commit thyself to the care of Omnipotence, and when the morning calls again to toil, begin anew thy journey and thy life.
Page 331 - FRANCIS. -T\.LL joy or sorrow for the happiness or calamities of others is produced by an act of the imagination, that realizes the event however fictitious, or approximates it however remote, by placing us, for a time, in the condition of him whose fortune we contemplate ; so that we feel, while the deception lasts, whatever motions would be excited by the same good or evil happening to ourselves.
Page 17 - HE works of fiction with which the present generation seems• more particularly delighted, are such as . exhibit life in its true state, diversified only by accidents that daily happen in the world, and influenced by passions and qualities which are really to be found in conversing with mankind.
Page 335 - If a life be delayed till interest and envy are at an end, we may hope for impartiality, but must expect little intelligence; for the incidents which give excellence to biography are of a volatile and evanescent kind, such as soon escape the memory, and are rarely transmitted by tradition.
Page 20 - It is justly considered as the greatest excellency of art to imitate nature ; but it is necessary to distinguish those parts of nature which are most proper for imitation : greater care is still required in representing life, which is so often discoloured by passion or deformed by wickedness.
Page 48 - Yet by some such fortuitous liquefaction was mankind taught to procure a body at once in a high degree solid and transparent, which might admit the light of the sun, and exclude the violence of the wind ; which might extend the sight of the philosopher to new ranges of existence, and charm him at one time with the unbounded extent of the material creation, and at another with the endless subordination of animal life ; and what is yet of more importance, might supply the decays of nature, and succour...
Page 332 - I have often thought that there has rarely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would not be useful.