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Literary Topics
230. Letters
"Do not fancy that an intermission of writing is a decay of
kindness. No man is always in a disposition to write; nor has
any man at all times something to say."
Johnson: Letter to Boswell
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312. Letters
"I suffered you to escape last post without a letter, but you are
not to expect such indulgence very often; for I write not so
much because I have anything to say, as because I hope for an
answer; and the vacancy of my life makes a letter of great
value."
Johnson: Letter to Richard Brocklesby
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845. Friendship; Letters;
Self-Knowledge
"It has been so long said as to be commonly believed, that the
true characters of men may be found in their letters, and that he
who writes to his friend lays his heart open before him. But the
truth is, that such were the simple friendships of the "Golden
Age," and are now the friendships only of children. Very few can
boast of hearts which they dare lay open to themselves, and of
which, by whatever accident exposed, they do not shun a distinct
and continued view; and, certainly, what we hide from ourselves
we do not show to our friends. There is, indeed, no transaction
which offers stronger temptations to fallacy and sophistication
than epistolary intercourse. In the eagerness of conversation
the first emotions of the mind often burst out before they are
considered; in the tumult of business, interest and passion have
their genuine effect; but a friendly letter is a calm and
deliberate performance, in the cool of leisure, in the stillness
of solitude, and surely no man sits down to depreciate by design
his own character."
"Friendship has no tendency to secure veracity; for by whom
can a man so much wish to be thought better than he is, as by him
whose kindness he desires to gain or keep? Even in writing to
the world there is less constraint; the author is not confronted
with the reader, and takes his chance of approbation among the
different dispositions of mankind; but a letter is addressed to
a single mind, of which the prejudices and partialities are
known, and must therefore please, if not by favouring them, by
forbearing to oppose them."
Johnson: Pope (Lives of the Poets)
Link
846. Hypocrisy; Letters; Self-Knowledge;
Vanity
"To charge those favourable representations which men give of
their own minds with the guilt of hypocritical falsehood, would
show more severity than knowledge. The writer commonly believes
himself. Almost every man's thoughts, while they are general,
are right; and most hearts are pure while temptation is away.
It is easy to awaken generous sentiments in privacy; to despise
death when there is no danger; to glow with benevolence when
there is nothing to be given. While such ideas are formed they
are felt, and self-love does not suspect the gleam of virtue to
be the meteor of fancy."
Johnson: Pope (Lives of the Poets)
Link
847. Letters
"It is one thing to write [letters?], because there is something
which the mind wishes to discharge; and another to solicit the
imagination, because ceremony or vanity requires something to be
written."
Johnson: Pope (Lives of the Poets)
Link
1,251. Letters
"'It was wisdom," says Seneca, 'of ancient times to consider what
is most useful as most illustrious.' If this rule be applied to
works of genius, scarcely any species of composition deserves
more to be cultivated than the epistolary style, since none is of
more various or frequent use, through the whole subordination of
life."
Johnson: Rambler #152 (August 31, 1751)
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1,252. Humanity; Letters
"As much of life must be passed in affairs considerable only by
their frequent occurrence, and much of the pleasure which our
condition allows, must be produced by giving elegance to trifles,
it is necessary to learn how to become little without becoming
mean, to maintain the necessary intercourse of civility, and fill
up the vacuities of actions by agreeable appearances. It had,
therefore, been of advantage, if such of our writers as have
excelled in the art of decorating insignificance, had supplied us
with a few sallies of innocent gaiety, effusions of honest
tenderness, or exclamations of unimportant hurry."
Johnson: Rambler #152 (August 31, 1751)
Link
1,253. Letters; Writing
"The purpose for which letters are written when no intelligence
is communicated or business transacted, is to preserve in the
minds of the absent either love or esteem; to excite love we must
impart pleasure, and to raise esteem we must discover abilities.
Pleasure will generally be given as abilities are displayed by
scenes of imagery, points of conceit, unexpected sallies, and
artful compliments. Trifles always require exuberance of
ornament; the building which has no strength can be valued only
for the grace of its decorations. The pebble must be polished
with care, which hopes to be valued as a diamond; and words
ought surely to be laboured, when they are intended to stand for
things."
Johnson: Rambler #152 (August 31, 1751)
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