Quotes from Samuel Johnson

Tis plain, that she who, for a kingdom now,Would sacrifice her love, and break her vow,Not out of love, but interest, acts alone,And would, ev'n in my arms, lie thinking of a throne.Dryden'sConquest of Granada.

ACCLIVITY  (ACCLI'VITY)   n.s.[from acclivus, Lat.] The steepness or slope of a line inclining to the horizon, reckoned upwards; as, the ascent of an hill is the acclivity, the descent is the declivity.Quincy.

Sweet are the uses of adversity,Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.Shak.As you like it. Concerning deliverance itself from all adversity

ACRE  (A'CRE)   n.s.[Æcre, Sax.] A quantity of land containing in length forty perches, and four in breadth, or four thousand eight hundred and forty square yards.Dict.

God never accepts a good inclination instead of a good action, where that action may be done; nay, so much the contrary, that, if a good inclination be not seconded by a good action, the want of that action is made so much the more criminal and inexcusable.South'sSermons.3. Agency

The judgments which Johnson passed on books were, in his own time, regarded with superstitious veneration, and, in our time, are generally treated with indiscriminate contempt. They are the judgments of a strong but enslaved understanding. The mind of the critic was hedged round by an uninterrupted fence of prejudices and superstitions. Within his narrow limits, he displayed a vigour and an activity which ought to have enabled him to clear the barrier that confined him.

AMURCOSITY  (AMURCO'SITY)   n.s.[amurca, Lat.]The quality of lees or mother of any thing.

Dame Nature, as the learned show,Provides each animal its foe;Hounds hunt the hare, the wily foxDevours your geese, the wolf your flocks.Thus envy pleads a natural claim,To persecute the muse's fame,On poets in all times abusive,From Homer down to Pope inclusive.Swift'sMiscellanies.2. Containing

ACCOLENT  (A'CCOLENT)   n.s.[accolens, Lat.] He that inhabits near a place; a borderer.Dict.

His fame is great; and it will, we have no doubt, be lasting; but it is fame of a peculiar kind, and indeed marvellously resembles infamy. We remember no other case in which the world has made so great a distinction between a book and its author. In general, the book and the author are considered as one. To admire the book is to admire the author. The case of Boswell is an exception, we think the only exception, to this rule.

He that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist,While he that hears makes fearful actionWith wrinkled brows.Shakesp.King John.

Nor was his energy confin'd alone To friends around his philosophick throne; Its influence wide improv'd our letter'd isle. And lucid vigour marked the general style: As Nile's proud waves, swoln from their oozy bed. First o'er the neighbouring meads majestick spread; Till gathering force, they more and more expand. And with new virtue fertilise the land.

To ACTIVATE  (A'CTIVATE)   v.a.[from active.]To make active. This word is perhaps used only by the author alleged. As snow and ice, especially being holpen, and their cold activated by nitre or salt, will turn water into ice, and that in a few hours; so it may be, it will turn wood or stiff clay into stone, in longer time.Bacon'sNat. History,No 83.

Addison writes with the ease of a gentleman. His readers fancy that a wise and accomplished companion is talking to them; so that he insinuates his sentiments and taste into their minds by an imperceptible influence. Johnson writes like a teacher. He dictates to his readers as if from an academical chair. They attend with awe and admiration; and his precepts are impressed upon them by his commanding eloquence.

APERT  (APE'RT)   adj.[apertus, Lat.]Open.

ABYSM  (ABY'SM)   n.s.[abysme, old Fr. now written contractedly abîme.]A gulf; the same with abyss. My good stars, that were my former guides,Have empty left their orbs, and shot their firesInto the abysm of hell.Shakespeare'sAntony and Cleopatra.

Hector hastened to relieve his boy;Dismiss'd his burnish'd helm that shone afar,The pride of warriours, and the pomp of war.Dryd.3. From

To ADDRESS  (ADDRE'SS)   v.a.[addresser, Fr. from dereçar, Span. from dirigo, directum, Lat.]1. To prepare one's self to enter upon any action; as, he addressed himself to the work. It lifted up its head, and did addressItself to motion, like as it would speak.Shakesp.Hamlet.

ANSATED  (A'NSATED)   adj.[ansatus, Lat.]Having handles; or something in the form of handles.

The existence of the twilight does not mean we cannot distinguish the day from the night.

ADOWN  (ADO'WN)   prep.Down; towards the ground; from a higher situation towards a lower. In this remembrance Emily ere dayArose, and dress'd herself in rich array;Fresh as the month, and as the morning fair,Adown her shoulders fell her length of hair.Dryd.Fables.

Self-love is often rather arrogant than blind; it does not hide our faults from ourselves, but persuades us that they escape the notice of others.

The custom of frequent reflection will keep their minds from running adrift, and call their thoughts home from useless unattentive roving.Lockeon Education,¶ 176.

The flesh of animals who feed excursively, is allowed to have a higher flavour than that of those who are cooped up. May there not be the same difference between men who read as their taste prompts and men who are confined in cells and colleges to stated tasks?