The British Essayists, Volume 19Alexander Chalmers J. Johnson, 1808 |
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Page xxxv
... equally requisite to the great and mean , to the celebrated and obscure ; the art of moderating the desires , of repressing the appetites , and of conciliating , or deserving the favour of mankind . No man , surely , can think the ...
... equally requisite to the great and mean , to the celebrated and obscure ; the art of moderating the desires , of repressing the appetites , and of conciliating , or deserving the favour of mankind . No man , surely , can think the ...
Page xxxvi
... equally conferred upon the good and bad , no real dignity is annexed . Such , however , is the state of the world , that the most obsequious of the slaves of pride , the most rapturous of the gazers upon wealth , the most officious of ...
... equally conferred upon the good and bad , no real dignity is annexed . Such , however , is the state of the world , that the most obsequious of the slaves of pride , the most rapturous of the gazers upon wealth , the most officious of ...
Page 9
... equally strange , or by means equally inade- quate . When we pity him , we reflect on our own disappointments ; and when we laugh , our hearts in- form us that he is not more ridiculous than ourselves , except that he tells what we have ...
... equally strange , or by means equally inade- quate . When we pity him , we reflect on our own disappointments ; and when we laugh , our hearts in- form us that he is not more ridiculous than ourselves , except that he tells what we have ...
Page 11
... equally pleased with their own productions , equally caressed by their patrons , and flattered by their friends . But though it should happen that an author is ca- pable of excelling , yet his merit may pass without no- tice , huddled ...
... equally pleased with their own productions , equally caressed by their patrons , and flattered by their friends . But though it should happen that an author is ca- pable of excelling , yet his merit may pass without no- tice , huddled ...
Page 15
... equally mingled , that CRITICISM stood with her sceptre poised in her hand , in doubt whether to shed lethe , or ambrosia , upon them . These at last increased to so great a number , that she was weary of attending such doubtful claims ...
... equally mingled , that CRITICISM stood with her sceptre poised in her hand , in doubt whether to shed lethe , or ambrosia , upon them . These at last increased to so great a number , that she was weary of attending such doubtful claims ...
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintance amusements Anthea appearance beauty calamity censure character Cleobulus common consider contempt conversation danger delight desire dignity discover easily ELPHINSTON eminent endeavour envy Epictetus equally error evils excellence eyes favour fear folly force fortune frequently friends gain genius give happen happiness heart hinder honour hope hopes and fears hour human Ianthe imagination incited indulge innu JOHNSON Jovianus Pontanus Jupiter kind knowledge labour Lacedemon lady learning less lest lives mankind marriage means Melanthia ment mind miscarriages misery moral nature nerally never objects observed once opinion ourselves OVID pain passions pastoral Penthesilea perhaps Periander pleasing pleasure Plutus portunity praise precepts Prudentius publick racter RAMBLER reason reflection regard reproach reputation rest rience riety SATIETY SATURDAY seldom sentiments shew sometimes soon sophism suffer thing thou thought tion told TUESDAY vanity Virgil virtue write
Popular passages
Page 279 - I was surprised, after the civilities of my first reception, to find, instead of the leisure and tranquillity which a rural life always promises, and, if well conducted, might always afford, a confused wildness of care, and a tumultuous hurry of diligence, by which every face was clouded, and every motion agitated.
Page 18 - These books are written chiefly to the young, the ignorant, and the idle, to whom they serve as lectures of conduct, and introductions into life. They are the entertainment of minds unfurnished with ideas, and therefore easily susceptible of impressions; not fixed by principles, and therefore easily following the current of fancy; not informed by experience, and consequently open to every false suggestion and partial account.
Page 264 - Health is indeed so necessary to all the duties, as well as pleasures of life, that the crime of squandering it is equal to the folly ; and he that for a short gratification brings weakness and diseases upon himself, and for the pleasure of a few years passed in the tumults...
Page 22 - The Roman tyrant was content to be hated, if he was but feared ; and there are thousands of the readers of romances willing to be thought wicked, if they may be allowed to be wits.
Page 20 - ... it, to initiate youth by mock encounters in the art of necessary defence, and to increase prudence without impairing virtue.
Page 17 - THE works of fiction, with which the present generation seems more particularly delighted, are such as exhibit life in its true state, diversified only by accidents that daily happen in the world, and influenced by passions and qualities which are really to be found in conversing with mankind.
Page 6 - ... and losing itself in schemes of future felicity; and that we forget the proper use of the time now in our power to provide for the enjoyment of that which, perhaps, may never be granted us has been frequently remarked ; and as this practice is a commodious subject of raillery to the gay, and of declamation to the serious, it has been ridiculed with all the pleasantry of wit, and exaggerated with all the amplifications of rhetoric.
Page 230 - There is certainly no greater happiness, than to be able to look back on a life usefully and virtuously employed, to trace our own progress in existence, by such tokens as excite neither shame nor sorrow. Life, in which nothing has been done or suffered to distinguish one day from another, is to him that has passed it, as if it had never been, except that he is conscious how ill he has husbanded the great deposit of his Creator.
Page 18 - ... retire to his closet, let loose his invention, and heat his mind with incredibilities ; a book was thus produced without fear of criticism, without the toil of study, without knowledge of nature, or acquaintance with life.
Page 11 - What is new is opposed, because most are unwilling to be taught ; and what is known is rejected, because it is not sufficiently considered, that men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.