The works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 2G. Offor, 1818 |
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Page 4
... beauty of my works , to be at least pardoned for their brevity . But whether my expectations are most fixed on pardon or praise , I think it not necessary to discover ; for having accurately weighed the reasons for arrogance and ...
... beauty of my works , to be at least pardoned for their brevity . But whether my expectations are most fixed on pardon or praise , I think it not necessary to discover ; for having accurately weighed the reasons for arrogance and ...
Page 8
... beauty to the vegetable world . Perhaps no class of the human species requires more to be cautioned against this anticipation of happiness , than those that aspire to the name of authors . A man of lively fancy no sooner finds a hint ...
... beauty to the vegetable world . Perhaps no class of the human species requires more to be cautioned against this anticipation of happiness , than those that aspire to the name of authors . A man of lively fancy no sooner finds a hint ...
Page 13
... beauty , solidity , or usefulness . Wherever such discoveries were made , and they were made whenever these faults were committed , CRITICISM refused the touch which conferred the sanction of im- mortality ; and , when the errours were ...
... beauty , solidity , or usefulness . Wherever such discoveries were made , and they were made whenever these faults were committed , CRITICISM refused the touch which conferred the sanction of im- mortality ; and , when the errours were ...
Page 22
... beauty , to lose their hours and divert their thoughts by cards or assemblies , a tavern dinner , or the prattle of the day . It may be laid down as a position which will seldom deceive , that when a man cannot bear his own company ...
... beauty , to lose their hours and divert their thoughts by cards or assemblies , a tavern dinner , or the prattle of the day . It may be laid down as a position which will seldom deceive , that when a man cannot bear his own company ...
Page 31
... beauty of rectitude . To this power , thus early established , and incessantly increasing , it must be remembered that almost every man has , in some part of his life , added new strength by a voluntary or negligent subjection of ...
... beauty of rectitude . To this power , thus early established , and incessantly increasing , it must be remembered that almost every man has , in some part of his life , added new strength by a voluntary or negligent subjection of ...
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintance amusements appearance APRIL 24 beauty calamities censure common considered contempt conversation crimes danger delight desire discover easily ELPHINSTON endeavour envy Epictetus equally errour evils excellence expected extempo eyes favour fear felicity flatter folly fortune frequently friends gain genius give happen happiness heart hinder honour hope hope and fear hour human Ianthe imagination incited inclined indulge Jupiter kind knowledge labour lady lative learning less lest lives mankind marriage means Melissus ment mind miscarriages misery modelling armies moral nature neglect neral ness never observed once opinion ourselves OVID pain passions Penthesilia perhaps Periander pleased pleasure praise precepts priva produce Prudentius publick RAMBLER reason reflection regard reproach retire SATURDAY seldom sentiments servants sometimes soon sophism suffer tell thing thou thought tion told treach TUESDAY ugley vanity virtue wish write young
Popular passages
Page 15 - Why this wild strain of imagination found reception so long in polite and learned ages, it is not easy to conceive ; but we cannot wonder that 'while readers could be procured, the authors were willing to continue it ; for when a man had by practice gained some fluency of language, he had no further care than to retire to his closet, let loose his invention, and heat his mind with incredibilities ; a book was thus produced without fear of criticism, without the toil of study, without knowledge of...
Page 299 - Thus, forlorn and distressed, he wandered . through the wild without knowing whither he was going, or whether he was every moment drawing nearer to safety or to destruction. At length, not fear but labour began to overcome him ; his breath grew short, and his knees trembled, and he was on the point of lying down, in resignation to his fate, when he beheld, through the brambles, the glimmer of a taper.
Page 301 - ... 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 299 - He advanced towards the light, and, finding that it proceeded from the cottage of a hermit, he called humbly at the door, and obtained admission. The old man set before him such provisions as he had collected for himself, on which Obidah fed with eagerness and gratitude. When the repast was over,
Page 299 - He rose with confidence and tranquillity, and pressed on with his sabre in his hand, for the beasts of the desert were in motion, and on every hand were heard the mingled howls of rage and fear, and ravage and expiration ; all the horrors of darkness and solitude surrounded him ; the winds roared in the woods, and the torrents tumbled from the hills.
Page 298 - This uneasiness of his mind inclined him to lay hold on every new object, and give way to every sensation that might soothe or divert him. ' He listened to every echo, he mounted every hill for a fresh prospect, he turned aside to every cascade...
Page 18 - ... to teach the means of avoiding the snares which are laid by TREACHERY for INNOCENCE, without infusing any wish for that superiority with which the betrayer flatters...
Page 277 - 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 192 - There is certainly no greater happiness than to be able to look back on a life usefully and virtuously employed, to trace our own progress in existence by such tokens as excite neither shame nor sorrow. Life, in which nothing has been done or suffered to distinguish one day from another, is to him that has passed it, as if it had never been, except that he is conscious how ill he has husbanded the great deposit of his Creator.
Page 18 - It is therefore not a sufficient vindication of a character, that it is drawn as it appears, for many characters ought never to be drawn; nor of a narrative, that the train of events is agreeable to observation ° and experience, for that observation which is called knowledge of the world will be found much more frequently to make men cunning than good.