 If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the account; or why it may not be as safe to turn the eye immediately upon mankind, as upon a mirror which shows all that presents itself without discrimination.  The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. - Page 23by Samuel Johnson - 1806Full view - About this book
 | Meyer Howard Abrams - 1971 - 420 pages
...necessary 'to distinguish those parts of nature which are most proper for imitation,' for it would 'be as safe to turn the eye immediately upon mankind, as upon a mirrour which shows all that presents itself without discrimination.' 10 In recent criticism (as, to some extent,... | |
 | David Daiches - 1979 - 336 pages
...so often discoloured by passion, or deformed by wickedness. If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the account;...safe to turn the eye immediately upon mankind as upon t ' which shows all that presents itself without discrimination. Equally dangerous and equally detestable... | |
 | Leopold Damrosch - 1989 - 276 pages
...4, where the immorality of recent novels is under review, "If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the account,...to turn the eye immediately upon mankind, as upon a mirror which shows all that presents itself without discrimination." The principle of selection (Johnson)... | |
 | George Alexander Kennedy, Marshall Brown - 1989 - 532 pages
...allegorical Eastern tale, Rasselas (1759). Johnson prefers reality to mere realism: 'I cannot see . . . why it may not be as safe to turn the eye immediately upon mankind as upon a mirror which shows all that presents itself without discrimination.' The distance traversed in the... | |
 | Michael J. Sidnell - 1991 - 298 pages
...often discolored by passion or deformed by wickedness. If the world can be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the account;...to turn the eye immediately upon mankind as upon a mirror which shows all that presents itself without discrimination. It is therefore not a sufficient... | |
 | Robert J. Griffin - 1995 - 208 pages
...imitation is precisely not mirror-like, but is highly selective: "If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the account;...may not be as safe to turn the eye immediately upon nature, as upon a mirror which shows all that presents itself without discrimination." w All art may... | |
 | Stuart Sherman - 1996 - 352 pages
...Rambler essay on novels, for example, Johnson argues that "If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the account;...to turn the eye immediately upon mankind, as upon a mirror which shows all that presents itself without discrimination" (R 4; 3.22). That "promiscuous... | |
 | Walter F. Greiner, Fritz Kemmler - 1997 - 282 pages
...so often discoloured by passion, or deformed by wickedness. If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the 65 account: or why it may not be as safe to turn the eye immediately upon mankind as upon a mirrour... | |
 | Margaret Anne Doody - 1996 - 640 pages
...Novel does, you might as well live your own life unmediated: "If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use it can be to read the accoum; or why is may not be as safe to turn the eye immediately upon mankind , , ," iRambler No, 4... | |
 | Raymond Tallis - 1998 - 236 pages
...Anthology, (London: Picador, 1972). If the world be promiscuously described, I cannot see of what use if can be to read the account; or why it may not be as safe to turn the eyes immediately upon mankind as upon a mirror which shows all that presents itself without discrimination.21... | |
| |
