A. Johnson
A. Johnson
influence argument failing
The arguments for purity of life fail of their due influence, not because they have been considered and confuted, but because they have been passed over without consideration.
ignorance men race
There is a certain race of men that either imagine it their duty, or make it their amusement, to hinder the reception of every work of learning or genius, who stand as sentinels in the avenues of fame, and value themselves upon giving Ignorance and Envy the first notice of a prey.
together lines may
Shakespeare never had six lines together without a fault. Perhaps you may find seven, but this does not refute my general assertion.
intellectual perception matter
We are perpetually moralists, but we are geometricians only by chance. Our intercourse with intellectual nature is necessary; our speculations upon matter are voluntary, and at leisure.
dull dictionary
To make dictionaries is dull work.
coffee headache steam
His most frequent ailment was the headache which he used to relieve by inhaling the steam of coffee.
fleeting ridiculous pleasure
The expense is damnable, the position is ridiculous, and the pleasure fleeting.
youth easy circumstances
It is not easy to surround life with any circumstances in which youth will not be delightful.
wise brave prodigies
Fears of the brave and follies of the wise.
heart blessing filled-up
Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, of sickness, or captivity, would, without this comfort, be insupportable; nor does it appear that the happiest lot of terrestrial existence can set us above the want of this general blessing; or that life, when the gifts of nature and of fortune are accumulated upon it, would not still be wretched, were it not elevated and delighted by the expectation of some new possession, of some enjoyment yet behind, by which the wish shall at last be satisfied, and the heart filled up to its utmost extent.
jest impression expected
Merriment is always the effect of a sudden impression. The jest which is expected is already destroyed.
exotic entertainment irrational
An exotic and irrational entertainment, which has been always combated, and always has prevailed.
farce civility scene
The reciprocal civility of authors is one of the most risible scenes in the farce of life.
writing generations poet
[The poet] must write as the interpreter of nature and the legislator of mankind, and consider himself as presiding over the thoughts and manners of future generations, as a being superior to time and place.