"Dr Johnson said, that I was right in thinking them unhappy; for that they had not enough to keep their minds in motion."

— Boswell, James (1740-1795)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly
Date
1785
Metaphor
"Dr Johnson said, that I was right in thinking them unhappy; for that they had not enough to keep their minds in motion."
Metaphor in Context
Mr Fraser sent a servant to conduct us by a short passage into the highroad. I observed to Dr Johnson, that I had a most disagreeable notion of the life of country gentlemen; that I left Mr Fraser just now, as one leaves a prisoner in a jail. Dr Johnson said, that I was right in thinking them unhappy; for that they had not enough to keep their minds in motion.
(p. 216)
Categories
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
At least 5 entries in ESTC (1785, 1786, 1791).

See The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. By James Boswell, Esq. Containing Some Poetical Pieces by Dr. Johnson, relative to the Tour, and never before published; A Series of his Conversation, Literary Anecdotes, and Opinions of Men and Books: With an Authentick Account of The Distresses and Escape of the Grandson of King James II. in the Year 1746. (London: Printed by Henry Baldwin, 1785). <Link to ECCO>

Text from Johnson, Samuel and James Boswell. A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, ed. Peter Levi. (New York: Penguin Books, 1984).
Date of Entry
06/26/2013

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