"But this invisible riot of the mind, this secret prodigality of being, is secure from detection, and fearless of reproach."
— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)
Author
Work Title
Date
Tuesday, January 22, 1751
Metaphor
"But this invisible riot of the mind, this secret prodigality of being, is secure from detection, and fearless of reproach."
Metaphor in Context
There is nothing more fatal to a man whose business is to think, than to have learned the art of regaling his mind with those airy gratifications. Other vices or follies are restrained by fear, reformed by admonition, or rejected by the conviction which the comparison of our conduct with that of others may in time produce. But this invisible riot of the mind, this secret prodigality of being, is secure from detection, and fearless of reproach. The dreamer retires to his apartments, shuts out the cares and interruptions of mankind, and abandons himself to his own fancy; new worlds rise up before him, one image is followed by another, and a long succession of delights dances round him. He is at last called back to life by nature, or by custom, and enters peevish into society, because he cannot model it to his own will. He returns from his idle excursions with the asperity, though not with the knowledge of a student, and hastens again to the same felicity with the eagerness of a man bent upon the advancement of some favourite science. The infatuation strengthens by degrees, and like the poison of opiates, weakens his powers, without any external symptoms of malignity.
(pp. 207-8)
(pp. 207-8)
Categories
Provenance
Searching 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 mostly 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>
Some text also from Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, vol. 4 of The Works of Samuel Johnson, eds. W. J. Bate and Albrecht B. Strauss (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1969). <Link to www.yalejohnson.com>
Text mostly 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>
Some text also from Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, vol. 4 of The Works of Samuel Johnson, eds. W. J. Bate and Albrecht B. Strauss (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1969). <Link to www.yalejohnson.com>
Date of Entry
05/26/2011
