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John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

4084 Samuel Johnson 1709-1784 John Bartlett

 
NUMBER:4084
AUTHOR:Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
QUOTATION:I never have sought the world; the world was not to seek me. 1
ATTRIBUTION:Life of Johnson (Boswell). 2 Vol. viii. Chap. v. 1783.
 
Note 1.
I have not loved the world, nor the world me.—Lord Byron: Childe Harold, canto iii. stanza 113. [back]
Note 2.
From the London edition, 10 volumes, 1835.

Dr. Johnson, it is said, when he first heard of Boswell’s intention to write a life of him, announced, with decision enough, that if he thought Boswell really meant to write his life he would prevent it by taking Boswell’s!Thomas Carlyle: Miscellanies, Jean Paul Frederic Richter. [back]