251. Happiness; Taverns/Inns
"There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which
so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn."
Boswell: Life
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365. Scotland; Taverns/Inns
[Of an inn in Scotland, SJ wrote...] "Of the provisions the
negative catalogue was very copious. Here was no meat, no milk,
no bread, no eggs, no wine. We did not express much
satisfaction."
Johnson: Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
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1,714. Taverns
In contradiction to those, who, having a wife and children,
prefer domestic enjoyments to those which a tavern affords, I
have heard him assert, that a tavern-chair was the throne of
human felicity.—'As soon,' said he, 'as I enter the door of
a tavern, I experience an oblivion of care, and a freedom from
solicitude : when I am seated, I find the master courteous, and
the servants obsequious to my call; anxious to know and ready to
supply my wants : wine there exhilarates my spirits, and prompts
me to free conversation and an interchange of discourse with
those whom I most love : I dogmatise and am contradicted, and in
this conflict of opinion and sentiments I find delight.'
from Sir John Hawkins' Life of Johnson
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