James Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, was a Scottish biographer and diarist, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson, which the modern Johnsonian critic Harold Bloom has claimed is the greatest biography written in the English language...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth29 October 1740
prejudice strange quotations
There is indeed a strange prejudice against Quotation.
stranger should worthy
In every place, where there is any thing worthy of observation, there should be a short printed directory for strangers.
fifty man suppose thousand whom woman women
Boswell: "Pray, Sir, do you not suppose that there are fifty women in the world, with any one of whom a man may be as happy, as with any one woman in particular?" Johnson: "Ay, Sir, fifty thousand
quotes understanding
I have found you an argument; I am not obliged to find you an understanding.
laughter love wear worth
There is nothing worth the wear of winning, but laughter and the love of friends.
quotes
He who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.
animal men suffering
But the question is, whether the animals who endure such sufferings of various kinds for the service and entertainment of man, would accept existence upon the terms on which they have it.
men generosity prodigals
If a man is prodigal, he cannot be truly generous.
melancholy silent unhappiness
Melancholy cannot be clearly proved to others, so it is better to be silent about it.
mother ignorance worship
Many infidels have maintained that Ignorance is the mother of Devotion.
whimsical pleasure whim
The pleasure of gratifying whim is very great. It is known only by those who are whimsical.
believe ancient quotations
Quotation is more universal and more ancient than one would perhaps believe.
book science journey
Boswell: But, Sir is it not somewhat singular that you should happen to have Cocker's Arithmetic about you on your journey? Dr. Johnson: Why, Sir if you are to have but one book with you upon a journey, let it be a book of science. When you read through a book of entertainment, you know it, and it can do no more for you; but a book of science is inexhaustible.
thinking mankind distinguished
I think there is a blossom about me of something more distinguished than the generality of mankind.