A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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More information about this quote

Topic

Reading Books

Speaker

Samuel Johnson

Author

James Boswell

Source

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1763 1760s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Occupation

Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 9 July 1763.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by James Boswell

Consider, Sir, how insignificant this will appear a twelvemonth hence.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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More information about this quote
Topic
Perspective
Speaker
Samuel Johnson

Author

James Boswell
Source
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D
Genre
Biography
Language
English
Time
1763 1760s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry by James Boswell. 6 July 1763.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

Another quote from the 1760s

The body politic, like the human body, begins to die from its birth, and bears in itself the cause of its destruction.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Social Contract

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More information about this quote
Topic
Political community Things get worse

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Source
The Social Contract
Genre
Political literature Philosophical literature
Language
French
Time
1762 1760s 18th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique [On the Social Contract or Principles of Political Law]. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762, bk. 3, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Of the Social Contract." Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings, translated by Quintin Hoare. Penguin Classics, 2012, bk. 3, ch. 11.

Another quote about Books

When you reread a classic you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before.

Clifton Fadiman

More information about this quote
Topic
Power of literature Books

Author

Clifton Fadiman
Language
English
Time
1957 1950s 20th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Fadiman, Clifton. Any Number Can Play. The World Publishing Company, 1957.

Another quote from Age of Enlightenment

No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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More information about this quote
Topic
State of nature Barbarism Civilization

Author

Thomas Hobbes
Source
Leviathan
Genre
Political literature Philosophical literature
Language
English
Time
1651 1650s 17th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 1, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 1, ch. 13.