Great abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has fa… - Samuel Johnson
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Great abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention. Imagination is not required in any high degree; only about as much as is used in the lower kinds of poetry.
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 [7 September O.S.] – 13 December 1784) was a British author, linguist and lexicographer. He is often referred to as simply Dr. Johnson in the history of literature and is regarded as the greatest man of letters in English history.
Biography information from
Wikiquote·
Portrait adapted from
Wikimedia Commons, Joshua Reynolds (Public domain / CC0)
Also Known As
Alternative Names:
Dr Johnson
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Dr. Johnson
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Great Moralist
I have two very cogent reasons for not printing any list of subscribers; — one, that I have lost all the names, — the other, that I have spent all the money.
Do not suffer life to stagnate, it will grow muddy for want of motion; commit yourself again to the current of the world.
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