The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.Nichols and Son, 1801 - Biography |
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Page 20
... expected , that with the ex- planation of the one the herald fhould be fatisfied , or the philofopher with that of the other ; but fince it will be required by common readers , that the ex- plications fhould be fufficient for common ufe ...
... expected , that with the ex- planation of the one the herald fhould be fatisfied , or the philofopher with that of the other ; but fince it will be required by common readers , that the ex- plications fhould be fufficient for common ufe ...
Page 28
... expected ; and if ufe be carefully fupplied , curiofity muft fometimes bear its difappointments . This , my Lord , is my idea of an English Dic- tionary ; a dictionary by which the pronunciation of our language may be fixed , and its ...
... expected ; and if ufe be carefully fupplied , curiofity muft fometimes bear its difappointments . This , my Lord , is my idea of an English Dic- tionary ; a dictionary by which the pronunciation of our language may be fixed , and its ...
Page 47
... expected in a task , which no man , however learned or fagacious , has yet been able to perfom . Some words there are which I cannot explain , be- cause I do not understand them ; thefe might have been omitted very often with little ...
... expected in a task , which no man , however learned or fagacious , has yet been able to perfom . Some words there are which I cannot explain , be- cause I do not understand them ; thefe might have been omitted very often with little ...
Page 56
... expected every fearch into thofe neglected mines to reward my labour , and the triumph with which I should difplay my acquifitions to mankind . When I had thus enquired into the original of words , I refolved to fhew likewife my ...
... expected every fearch into thofe neglected mines to reward my labour , and the triumph with which I should difplay my acquifitions to mankind . When I had thus enquired into the original of words , I refolved to fhew likewife my ...
Page 59
... expects hourly to return ; he that is fearching for rare and remote things , will neglect thofe that are obvious and familiar : thus many of the most common and curfory words have been in- ferted with little illuftration , because in ...
... expects hourly to return ; he that is fearching for rare and remote things , will neglect thofe that are obvious and familiar : thus many of the most common and curfory words have been in- ferted with little illuftration , because in ...
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Common terms and phrases
affiftance againſt almoſt arife becauſe beſt caufes cauſe cenfure coaft confidered criticifm criticks curiofity defign defire difcovered diftinct eafily eafy endeavoured English fafe faid fame fatire fcenes fcience fecond feems feldom fenfe fent fentiments fettled fhall fhew fhewn fhips fhould fince fingle firft firſt fome fometimes foon fpeech French ftand ftate ftill ftrength ftudies fubjects fuch fuffered fufficient fuperiority fupply fuppofed fupport furely happineſs Harleian library hiftory himſelf increaſed inferted inftruction intereft juft king labour laft language laſt learned leaſt lefs likewife moft moſt muft muſt nation nature neceffary neceffity obfcure obferved occafion ourſelves paffages paffions pafs perfons perhaps play pleafing pleaſe pleaſure poet Pope praife praiſe prefent preferved publick publiſhed purpoſe queftion raiſed reader reafon reft reprefented Shakespeare ſhall ſtate thefe themſelves theſe things thofe thoſe tion underſtand uſe weft whofe words writers
Popular passages
Page 138 - He was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul. All the images of nature were still present to him, and he drew them not laboriously, but luckily : when he describes anything, you more than see it, you feel it too.
Page 83 - Shakespeare, that his drama is the mirror of life; that he who has mazed his imagination in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him, may here be cured of his delirious ecstasies by reading human sentiments in human language; by scenes from which a hermit may estimate the transactions of the world, and a confessor predict the progress of the passions.
Page 109 - Shakespeare, however favoured by nature, could impart only what he had learned; and as he must increase his ideas, like other mortals, by gradual acquisition, he, like them, grew wiser as he grew older, could display life better, as he knew it more, and instruct with more efficacy, as he was himself more amply instructed.
Page 80 - 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 64 - I have devoted this book, the labour of years, to the honour of my country, that we may no longer yield the palm of philology, without a contest, to the nations of the continent.
Page 79 - The poet of whose works I have undertaken the revision may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient, and claim the privilege of established fame and prescriptive veneration. He has long outlived his century, the term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit.
Page 22 - If on a pillory, or near a throne, He gain his prince's ear, or lose his own. Yet soft by nature, more a dupe than wit, Sappho can tell you how this man was bit...
Page 97 - The objection arising from the impossibility of passing the first hour at Alexandria and the next at Rome supposes that, when the play opens, the spectator really imagines himself at Alexandria, and believes that his walk to the theatre has been a voyage to Egypt, and that he lives in the days of Antony and Cleopatra. Surely he that imagines this may imagine more.
Page 64 - If the changes that we fear be thus irresistible, what remains but to acquiesce -with silence, as in the other insurmountable distresses of humanity ? It remains that we retard what we cannot repel, that we palliate what we cannot cure.