Page 372

Samuel Johnson. (1709–1784) (continued)

4054

Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place where he is not known. Don’t let him go to the devil, where he is known.

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 1 Vol. iv. Chap. ii. 1773.

4055

Was ever poet so trusted before?

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 2 Vol. v. Chap. vi. 1774.

4056

Attack is the reaction. I never think I have hit hard unless it rebounds.

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 3 Vol. v. Chap. vi. 1775.

4057

A man will turn over half a library to make one book.

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 4 Vol. v. Chap. viii. 1775.

4058

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 5 Vol. v. Chap. ix. 1775.

4059

Hell is paved with good intentions. 6

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 7 Vol. v. Chap. ix. 1775.

4060

Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. 8

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 9 Vol. v. Chap. ix. 1775.

4061

I never take a nap after dinner but when I have had a bad night; and then the nap takes me.

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 10 Vol. vi. Chap. i. 1775.

4062

In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath.

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 11 Vol. vi. Chap. i. 1775.

4063

There is now less flogging in our great schools than formerly,—but then less is learned there; so that what the boys get at one end they lose at the other.

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 12 Vol. vi. Chap. i. 1775.

4064

There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn. 13

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 14 Vol. vi. Chap. iii. 1776.

Note 1.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 2.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 3.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 4.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 5.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 6.
See Herbert, Quotation 21.

Do not be troubled by Saint Bernard’s saying that hell is full of good intentions and wills.—Francis de Sales: Spiritual Letters. Letter xii. (Translated by the author of “A Dominican Artist.”) 1605. [back]

Note 7.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 8.
Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est (To know where you can find anything, that in short is the largest part of learning).—Anonymous. [back]

Note 9.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 10.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 11.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 12.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

Note 13.
Whoe’er has travell’d life’s dull round,
Where’er his stages may have been,
May sigh to think he still has found
The warmest welcome at an inn.
William Shenstone: Written on a Window of an Inn. [back]

Note 14.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!—Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]

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