The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: The Adventurer. Philological tractsJ. Buckland [and 40 others], 1787 |
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Page 138
... designs to be ripened by future meditation . Solitude was to fuch men a releafe from fatigue , and an opportunity of usefulness . But what can retire- ment confer upon him , who having done nothing can receive no fupport from his own ...
... designs to be ripened by future meditation . Solitude was to fuch men a releafe from fatigue , and an opportunity of usefulness . But what can retire- ment confer upon him , who having done nothing can receive no fupport from his own ...
Page 222
... design , will require that it fhould fix our language , and put a stop to those alterations which time and chance have hitherto been fuffered to make in it without oppofition . With this confequence I will confefs that I flattered ...
... design , will require that it fhould fix our language , and put a stop to those alterations which time and chance have hitherto been fuffered to make in it without oppofition . With this confequence I will confefs that I flattered ...
Page 227
... upon fyntax and etymology , and that even a whole life would not be fufficient ; that he , whose design includes whatever language can exprefs , Q 2 exprefs , must often fpeak of what he does not ENGLISH DICTIONARY . 227.
... upon fyntax and etymology , and that even a whole life would not be fufficient ; that he , whose design includes whatever language can exprefs , Q 2 exprefs , must often fpeak of what he does not ENGLISH DICTIONARY . 227.
Page 291
... design to chance and to caprice . The reader , I believe , is feldom pleased to find his opinion anticipated ; it is natural to delight more in what we find or make , than in what we receive . Judgment , like other faculties , is ...
... design to chance and to caprice . The reader , I believe , is feldom pleased to find his opinion anticipated ; it is natural to delight more in what we find or make , than in what we receive . Judgment , like other faculties , is ...
Page 365
... design than that of promoting happiness by cultivating reason and piety . Mr. Warburton has indeed fo much depreffed the character of his adverfary , that before I confider the controverfy between them , I think it neceffary to exhibit ...
... design than that of promoting happiness by cultivating reason and piety . Mr. Warburton has indeed fo much depreffed the character of his adverfary , that before I confider the controverfy between them , I think it neceffary to exhibit ...
Common terms and phrases
affiftance againſt almoſt arife becauſe caufes cauſe cenfure character compofition confidered criticks curiofity defign defire difcovered diftinction diligence eafily eafy endeavoured fafe faid Falstaff fame fcarcely fcenes fcience fecure feems feldom fenfe fent fentiments fhall fhew fhewn fhould fince fingle firft firſt folicit fome fometimes foon fpeech ftand ftate ftill ftory ftudies fubject fuccefs fuch fuffered fufficient fupply fuppofe furely happineſs Harleian library Henry VI hiftory himſelf honour increaſe inferted inftruct intereft juft king knowledge labour laft language learned lefs likewife loft mankind mind moft moſt muft muſt myſelf nature neceffary neceffity obfcure obferved occafion ourſelves paffages paffed paffions perfon perhaps play pleafing pleaſe pleaſure poet praife praiſe prefent preferved publick purpoſe racter raife raiſed reader reafon reft ſcenes Shakespeare ſhall ſkill ſtate thefe themſelves theſe thofe thoſe thought tion truth underſtand univerfal uſe virtue whofe words writers
Popular passages
Page 232 - Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of general nature. Particular manners can be known to few, and therefore few only can judge how nearly they are copied. The irregular combinations of fanciful invention may delight awhile, by that novelty of which the common satiety of life sends us all in quest; but the pleasures of sudden wonder are soon exhausted, and the mind can only repose on the stability of truth.
Page 289 - I have indeed disappointed no opinion more than my own ; yet I have endeavoured to perform: my task with no slight solicitude.
Page 243 - He carries his persons indifferently through right and wrong, and at the close dismisses them without further care, and leaves their examples to operate by chance. This fault the barbarity of his age cannot extenuate, for it is always a writer's duty to make the world better, and justice is a virtue independent on time or place.
Page 263 - ... whether from all his successors more maxims of theoretical knowledge, or more rules of practical prudence, can be collected, than he alone has given to his country.
Page 285 - In restoring the author's works to their integrity, I have considered the punctuation as wholly in my power; for what could be their care of colons and commas, who corrupted words and sentences?
Page 232 - Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of Nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life.
Page 245 - His declamations or set speeches are commonly cold and weak, for his power was the power of nature...
Page 251 - If there be any fallacy, it is not that we fancy the players, but that we fancy ourselves unhappy for a moment; but we rather lament the possibility, than suppose the presence of misery, as a mother weeps over her babe, when she remembers that death may take it from her. The delight of tragedy proceeds from our consciousness of fiction ; if we thought murders and treasons real, they would please no more.
Page 249 - There is no reason why a mind thus wandering in ecstasy should count the clock, or why an hour should not be a century in that calenture of the brains that can make the stage a field.
Page 246 - A quibble is the golden apple for which he will always turn aside from his career, or stoop from his elevation. A quibble, poor and barren as it is, gave him such delight that he was content to purchase it by the sacrifice of reason, propriety and truth. A quibble was to him the fatal Cleopatra for which he lost the world, and was content to lose it.