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/lit/ - Literature

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19392296 No.19392296 [Reply] [Original]

About 3 am this morning, I was standing in front of my bookshelf. I skimmed along and pulled forward a very small book that had been pushed back among the others. I didn't recognize it. "Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking." On the inside was a post-it note from my Mom to my Dad. This wasn't my book. How did I get this book?

Two inside title pages, a Publisher's page, a dedication page, then a page with a quote. "We may take Fancy for a companion, but must follow Reason as our guide." -- Dr. Samuel Johnson.

Samuel Johnson? I recognized that name. That name was on the quote page of Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." (Why did I remember his name of all things?) "He who makes a beast of himself relieves himself the pain of being a man." I decided to look up Samuel Johnson on Wikipedia, and Lo! his picture was a familiar image. (pic related)

So that's Samuel Johnson. Funny how things can come around in a circle.

Some other Samuel Johnson quotes.
>"Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."
>"Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess."
>"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."
>

Thank you for reading my blog.

>> No.19392323

>>19392296
>"Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess."
Fuck.

>> No.19392342

>>19392323
Literally me. Except i have no qualities at all, that is the fun part

>> No.19392490

>>19392296
Holy shit, you actually came! Have a bump.

>> No.19392798

>>19392490
Hello anon, thank you for bump!

>> No.19393805

>>19392296
Just for context, that patriotism quote is always taken out of context. It's meant to be a slight against scoundrels, not patriots. E.G. that a scoundrel will always use patriotism as a last resort to further their aims.

>> No.19394583

Dr. Johnson. Fuck yeah!

>> No.19394606 [DELETED] 

>>19392296
>I was standing in front of my bookshelf
>my bookshelf
>I ... pulled forward a very small book that had been pushed back among the others. I didn't recognize it.
>I didn’t recognize it.
>my bookshelf
>I didn’t recognize it.
>my bookshelf
>I didn’t recognize it.
what the fuck is wrong with you anon

>> No.19395814

>>19392296
Read Rasselas, anon. Then The Rambler essays.

>> No.19396830

>>19395814
Thank you for the suggestion, anon. I will try to do that.

>> No.19396840

So sorry you're not here
I've been chained too long my vision's so unclear
Now take a trip with me
But don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem

>> No.19397025

why does he look so disgusted by me :(

>> No.19397989

>>19396830
His great work's Lives of the Poets. If you want to get an idea of what Johnson's life was like as a struggling young man read his (quasi-autobiographical) longish Life of Savage (a nothing poet whose 'life' he nonetheless included among the great simply because he had been kind to him, a friend of his when he needed a friend, a kind of ne'er-do-well Falstaff).

>> No.19399002

>>19397989
>Lives of the Poets
>Life of Savage
added. What an interesting path this has led to!