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Quotation by Samuel Johnson
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Samuel Johnson (286)Additional Sources
Adventurer (October 16, 1753)Adventurer (London, January 19, 1754)Adventurer (London, March 2, 1754)Adventurer (London, Oct. 16, 1753)"Apophthegms" Works, ed. John Hawkins (1787-1789)Related Subjects
artists (5) art (5) peace (4) politics (4) anger (3) realism (3) reality (3) opinions (3) arts (3) love (3)
We stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I shall never forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it, "I refute it thus."
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), British author, lexicographer. (Originally published 1791). Boswell's Life of Johnson, Aug. 6, 1763, p. 333, Oxford University Press (1980).
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Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, the following are prohibited: copying substantial portions or the entirety of the work in machine readable form, making multiple printouts thereof, and other uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws.
