...you shall i According to James Boswell in his Life of Johnson (1791), Samuel Johnson said, "If I had no duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend...understand me, and would add something to the conversation" (19 September 1777). fix upon a lady of forty-five years of age, or that you shall estimate her fitness...

...his reason. With what enormous pathos of other possible lives unlived we find him writing: 'If I had no duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend...me, and would add something to the conversation.' Johnson had a truly remarkable memory; no one read more widely and loved conversation and controversy....

...his reason. With what enormous pathos of other possible lives unlived we find him writing: 'If I had no duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend...could understand me, and would add something to the conversation.'120 Rasselas ends with a 'conclusion in which nothing is concluded', and the final Idler...

...motion of driving in a postchaise captivated the fancy of Dr. Johnson, for he said, " If I had no dudes, and no reference to futurity, I would spend my life...me, and would add something to the conversation." Mrs. Piozzi, who, eicept for prettiness, fulfilled these re'quirements, for she was a brilliant conversationalist...