Quotes on Advertising and Advertisements
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1,688. Advertising
"Genius is shown only by invention. The man who first took advantage of the general curiosity that was excited by a siege or battle, to betray the readers of news into the knowledge of the shop where the best puffs and powders were to be sold, was undoubtedly a man of great sagacity, and profound skill in the nature of man. But when he had once shown the way, it was easy to follow him; and every man now knows a ready method of informing the publick of all that he desires to buy or sell, whether his wares be material or intellectual; whether he makes clothes, or teaches the mathematicks; whether he is a tutor that wants a pupil, or a pupil that wants a tutor."
Johnson: Idler #40 (January 20, 1759)
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1,689. Advertising
"Whatever is common is despised. Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquence sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetick."
Johnson: Idler #40 (January 20, 1759)
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1,690. Advertising
"Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement."
Johnson: Idler #40 (January 20, 1759)
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1,691. Advertising
"Every man that advertises his own excellence should write with some consciousness of a character which dares to call the attention of the publick. He should remember that his name is to stand in the same paper with those of the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Germany, and endeavour to make himself worthy of the association."
Johnson: Idler #40 (January 20, 1759)
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