The Rambler, Volume 2 |
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Page 43
Evil into the mind of god or man May come and go , fo unapprov'd , and leave No fpot or ftain behind . MILTON . In futurity chiefly are the fnares lodged , by which the imagination is intangled . Futurity is the proper abode of hope and ...
Evil into the mind of god or man May come and go , fo unapprov'd , and leave No fpot or ftain behind . MILTON . In futurity chiefly are the fnares lodged , by which the imagination is intangled . Futurity is the proper abode of hope and ...
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Common terms and phrases
able acquaintance advantage againſt appearance attention beauty becauſe called common condition conduct confider continue danger defire effects employed endeavour equally evils excellence expected experience eyes fame favour fear fecure feel feem fhall fhould fince firft folly fome fometimes foon force fortune frequently ftate fuch fuffer fure future gain genius give given greater hands happen happineſs heart himſelf honour hope human imagination indulge intereft kind knowledge known labour lady laft LEARNING lefs lives look mankind manner means ment mifery mind moft moſt muft muſt myſelf nature neceffary never NUMB obferved objects once opinion paffed paffions pain perhaps pleaſure prefent produce reafon received regard tell thefe themſelves theſe thing thofe thoſe thought tion told turn virtue whofe write young
Popular passages
Page 13 - Yet there is a certain race of men, that either imagine it their duty, or make it their amusement, to hinder the reception of every work of learning or genius ; who stand as sentinels in the avenues of fame, and value themselves upon giving ignorance and envy the first notice of a prey.
Page 237 - Retire with me, O rash unthinking mortal, from the vain allurements of a deceitful world, and learn that pleasure was not designed the portion of human life. Man was born to mourn and to be wretched ; this is the condition of all below the stars ; and whoever endeavours to oppose it acts in contradiction to the will of Heaven.
Page 19 - In the romances formerly written, every transaction and sentiment was so remote from all that passes among men, that the reader was in very little danger of making any applications to himself...
Page 18 - They are engaged in portraits of which every one knows the original, and can detect any deviation from exactness of resemblance. Other writings are safe, except from the malice of learning, but these are in danger from every common reader; as the slipper ill executed was censured by a shoemaker who happened to stop in his way at the Venus of Apelles.
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 18 - The task of our present writers is very different; it requires, together with that learning which is to be gained from books, that experience which can never be attained by solitary diligence, but must arise from general converse, and accurate observation of the living world.
Page 19 - For this reason these familiar histories may perhaps be made of greater use than the solemnities of professed morality, and convey the knowledge of vice and virtue with more efficacy than axioms and definitions.
Page 259 - ... never arrives. He lies down delighted with the thoughts of to-morrow, pleases his ambition with the fame he shall acquire, or his benevolence with the good he shall confer. But in the night the skies...
Page 238 - Providence diffused such innumerable objects of delight but that all might rejoice in the privilege of existence, and be filled with gratitude to the beneficent author of it? Thus to enjoy the blessings he has sent is virtue and obedience; and to reject them merely as means of pleasure is pitiable ignorance or absurd perverseness.
Page 22 - In narratives where historical veracity has no place, I cannot discover why there should not be exhibited the most perfect idea of virtue ; of virtue not angelical, nor above probability, for what we cannot credit, we shall never imitate, but the highest and purest that humanity can reach...
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Rambler, Volume 2 The Rambler, Samuel Johnson |
| Author | Samuel Johnson |
| Publisher | W. Gordon, C. Wright, and the other booksellers, 1750 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | Sep 21, 2006 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |