The faults of a writer of acknowledged excellence are more dangerous, because the influence of his example is more extensive; and the interest of learning requires that they should be discovered and stigmatized, before they have the sanction of antiquity conferred upon them, and become precedents of indisputable authority. ✨ Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, Hester Mulson Chapone, Samuel Richardson, Catherine Talbot (1785). The Rambler, p.212
More Author Quotes
- There is no temper more unpropitious to interest than desultory application and unlimited inquiry, by which the desires are held in a perpetual equipoise, and the mind fluctuates between different pu … ▶
- A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it. ✨ Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for Mar. 1750)
- Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last; and perhaps always predominates in proportion to the strength of the contemplative faculties. He who easily comprehends all … ▶
- The true art of memory is the art of attention. ✨ Samuel Johnson, Hester Lynch Piozzi, James Boswell (1787). The Beauties of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Consisting of Maxims and Observations, Moral, Criti … ▶
- A man's mind grows narrow in a narrow place. ✨ James Boswell, Samuel Johnson (1866). The Life of Samuel Johnson, p.165
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