John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 376
| Samuel Johnson. (1709–1784) (continued) |
| 4100 |
| Hawkesworth said of Johnson, “You have a memory that would convict any author of plagiarism in any court of literature in the world.” |
| Johnsoniana. Kearsley. 600. |
| 4101 |
| His conversation does not show the minute-hand, but he strikes the hour very correctly. |
| Johnsoniana. Kearsley. 604. |
| 4102 |
| Hunting was the labour of the savages of North America, but the amusement of the gentlemen of England. |
| Johnsoniana. Kearsley. 606. |
| 4103 |
| I am very fond of the company of ladies. I like their beauty, I like their delicacy, I like their vivacity, and I like their silence. |
| Johnsoniana. Seward. 617. |
| 4104 |
| This world, where much is to be done and little to be known. |
| Prayers and Meditations. Against inquisitive and perplexing Thoughts. |
| 4105 |
| Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people. |
| Tour to the Hebrides. Sept. 20, 1773. |
| 4106 |
| A fellow that makes no figure in company, and has a mind as narrow as the neck of a vinegar-cruet. |
| Tour to the Hebrides. Sept. 30, 1773. |
| 4107 |
| The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honourable gentleman has with such spirit and decency charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny; but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience. 1 |
| Pitt’s Reply to Walpole. Speech, March 6, 1741. |
| 4108 |
| Towering in the confidence of twenty-one. |
| Letter to Bennet Langton. Jan. 9, 1758. |
| 4109 |
| Gloomy calm of idle vacancy. |
| Letter to Boswell. Dec. 8, 1763. |
| 4110 |
| Wharton quotes Johnson as saying of Dr. Campbell, “He is the richest author that ever grazed the common of literature.” |
| Note 1. This is the composition of Johnson, founded on some note or statement of the actual speech. Johnson said, “That speech I wrote in a garret, in Exeter Street.” Boswell: Life of Johnson, 1741. [back] |