Dr. Johnson's Table Talk: Containing Aphorisms on Literature, Life, and Manners; with Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, Selected and Arranged from Dr. Boswell's Life of Johnson, Volume 1 |
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Page 40
... something to please one's company ; and people are always pleased with those who partake pleasure with them . But after a man has brought himself to relin- quifh the great perfonal pleasure which arifes from drinking wine quith 40 TABLE ...
... something to please one's company ; and people are always pleased with those who partake pleasure with them . But after a man has brought himself to relin- quifh the great perfonal pleasure which arifes from drinking wine quith 40 TABLE ...
Page 123
... something as to which they difagree , and which they want to fhun , they will be in the fituation mentioned in the ftory of Bluebeard , you may look into all the chambers but one ; ' but we should have the greatest inclination to look ...
... something as to which they difagree , and which they want to fhun , they will be in the fituation mentioned in the ftory of Bluebeard , you may look into all the chambers but one ; ' but we should have the greatest inclination to look ...
Page 145
... am paid for doing it it ; but fo are you , Sir : and I am forry to say it , better paid than I am , for doing something not 66 L fo . Thus neceffary ; for mankind could do better without your İNEQUALITIES OF RANK . 145.
... am paid for doing it it ; but fo are you , Sir : and I am forry to say it , better paid than I am , for doing something not 66 L fo . Thus neceffary ; for mankind could do better without your İNEQUALITIES OF RANK . 145.
Page 278
... Something might be ncceffary , he ob- ferved , to excite the affections of the common people , who were funk in languor and le- thargy , and therefore he supposed that the new concomitants of methodifm might probably produce fo ...
... Something might be ncceffary , he ob- ferved , to excite the affections of the common people , who were funk in languor and le- thargy , and therefore he supposed that the new concomitants of methodifm might probably produce fo ...
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Common terms and phrases
afked againſt anſwered aſked becauſe beft Beggar's Opera better Bofwell cafe cauſe Cibber confider confiderable converfation defire diftinction drinking expreffed faid Johnſon fame fatire feems feen felf fermons ferved fhall fhewed fhould firft firſt fociety fome fomething fometimes foon fpirits ftate ftill ftrong fubject fuch fuffer fuperiority fuppofe fure Garrick gentleman give Goldfmith happineſs hiftory himſelf houfe houſe inftance itſelf Johnfon faid learning lefs live Lord mentioned merit miferable mind moft moſt muft muſt myſelf neceffary neral never obferved occafion once opinion paffion perfon pleafing pleaſe pleaſure poem praiſe prefent puniſhment queftion racter reaſon refpect ſaid ſay Scotland ſhe Sir faid Sir faid Johnſon Sir Joshua ſpeak ſtate talk tell themſelves Theocritus thing thofe thoſe thought tion told tranflation truth underſtanding univerfally unleſs uſed whofe wife wine wiſh write yourſelf
Popular passages
Page 153 - Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till the judge determines it. I have said that you are to state facts fairly; so that your thinking, or what you call knowing, a cause to be bad must be from reasoning, must be from your supposing your arguments to be weak and inconclusive.
Page 274 - Sir, it is owing to their expressing themselves in a plain and familiar manner, which is the only way to do good to the common people, and which clergymen of genius and learning ought to do from a principle of duty, when it is suited to their congregations; a practice, for which they will be praised by men of sense.
Page 149 - When I was running about this town a very poor fellow, I was a great arguer for the advantages of poverty; but I was, at the same time, very sorry to be poor. Sir, all the arguments which are brought to represent poverty as no evil, show it to be evidently a great evil.
Page 14 - Goldsmith should not be for ever attempting to shine in conversation : he has not temper for it, he is so much mortified when he fails. Sir, a game of jokes is composed partly of skill, partly of chance ; a man may be beat at times by one who has not the tenth part of his wit. Now Goldsmith's putting himself against another, is like a man laying a hundred to one, who cannot spare the hundred.
Page 153 - But, sir, that is not enough. An argument which does not convince yourself may convince the judge to whom you urge it; and if it does convince him, why then, sir, you are wrong and he is right. It is his business to judge ; and you are not to be confident in your own opinion that a cause is bad, but to say all you can for your client, and then hear the judge's opinion.
Page 432 - there is all the difference in the world between characters of nature and characters of manners; and there is the difference between the characters of Fielding and those of Richardson. Characters of manners are very entertaining; but they are to be understood by a more superficial observer than characters of nature, where a man must dive into the recesses of the human heart.
Page 427 - I met him (said he) at Lord Clare's house in the country, and he took no more notice of me than if I had been an ordinary man.
Page 264 - Sir, the life of a parson, of a conscientious clergyman, is not easy. I have always considered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is able to maintain. I would rather have Chancery suits upon my hands than the cure of souls. No, Sir, I do not envy a clergyman's life as an easy life ', nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life.
Page 65 - Why, Sir, that may be true in cases where learning cannot possibly be of any use; for instance, this boy rows us as well without learning, as if he could sing the song of Orpheus to the Argonauts, who were the first sailors." He then called to the boy, "What would you give, my lad, to know about the Argonauts?" "Sir," said the boy, "I would give what I have.
Page 406 - It may be justly supposed that there was in his conversation, what appears so frequently in his letters, an affectation of familiarity with the great, an ambition of momentary equality sought and enjoyed by the neglect of those ceremonies which custom has established as the barriers between one order of society and another. This transgression of regularity was by himself and his admirers termed greatness of soul.