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Quote by James Boswell

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Boswell's Edinburgh Journals 1767-1786

These journals offer a detailed account of James Boswell's experiences and observations during his residence in Edinburgh, providing insights into the social and cultural landscape of the time. more

Author

James Boswell
James Boswell

James Boswell, born on October 29, 1740, and died on May 19, 1795, was a Scottish lawyer and writer. He is best known for his biography, 'The Life of Samuel Johnson,' which provides a detailed account of the life and thoughts of the 18th-century British writer Samuel Johnson. more

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“Why should not the knowledge, the skill, the expertness, the assiduity, and the spirited hazards of trade and commerce, when crowned with success, be entitled to give those flattering distinctions by which mankind are so universally captivated? Such are the specious, but false arguments for a proposition which always will find numerous advocates, in a nation where men are every day starting up from obscurity to wealth. To refute them is needless. The general sense of mankind cries out, with irresistible force, "Un gentilhomme est toujours gentilhomme.”

MenGivingShouldForceNationsWealthClassMankindCrySkillsArgumentTradeStartingDistinctionCommerceEntitledPropositionsIrresistibleObscurityHazardsFlatteringSpiritedCaptivatedIrresistible ForceStarting Up
Book:The Life of Samuel Johnson
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“In comparing these two writers, he [Samuel Johnson] used this expression: "that there was as great a difference between them as between a man who knew how a watch was made, and a man who could tell the hour by looking on the dial-plate." This was a short and a figurative statement of his distinction between drawing characters of nature and characters only of manners, but I cannot help being of opinion, that the neat watches of Fielding are as well constructed as the large clocks of Richardson, and that his dial plates are brighter.”

MenWellsMadeTwoCharacterHelpingUsedHoursDifferencesOpinionWatchesExpressionDrawingStatementsMannersCompareClockDistinctionPlatesJohnsonBrighterNeat
Author:James Boswell
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