"He that is angry without daring to confess his resentment, or sorrowful without the liberty of telling his grief; is too frequently inclined to give vent to the fermentations of his mind at the first passages that are opened, and to let his passions boil over upon those whom accident throws in his way."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)


Work Title
Date
Saturday, December 1, 1750
Metaphor
"He that is angry without daring to confess his resentment, or sorrowful without the liberty of telling his grief; is too frequently inclined to give vent to the fermentations of his mind at the first passages that are opened, and to let his passions boil over upon those whom accident throws in his way."
Metaphor in Context
This troublesome impatience is sometimes nothing more than the symptom of some deeper malady. He that is angry without daring to confess his resentment, or sorrowful without the liberty of telling his grief; is too frequently inclined to give vent to the fermentations of his mind at the first passages that are opened, and to let his passions boil over upon those whom accident throws in his way. A painful and tedious course of sickness frequently produces such an alarming apprehension of the least increase of uneasiness, as keeps the soul perpetually on the watch, such a restless and incessant solicitude, as no care or tenderness can appease, and can only be pacified by the cure of the distemper, and the removal of that pain by which it is excited.
(p. 115)
Provenance
Searching in UVa E-Text Center
Citation
Originally published semiweekly in 208 folio numbers: London: John Payne and J. Bouquet, 1750-1752. At least 46 entries in ESTC (1750, 1751, 1752, 1756, 1761, 1763, 1767, 1771, 1772, 1776, 1779, 1781, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799, 1800).

Text from Samuel Johnson, Works of Samuel Johnson (Troy, NY: Pafraets Book Company, 1903). Prepared by Charles Keller for UVa E-Text Center, 1995. <Link to UVa E-Text Center>
Date of Entry
05/25/2011

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.