"Both are founded on the same bottom; on our ignorance of the possible dimensions of the mind of man."
— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
A. Millar and R. and J. Dodsley
Date
1759
Metaphor
"Both are founded on the same bottom; on our ignorance of the possible dimensions of the mind of man."
Metaphor in Context
As great, perhaps, greater than those mentioned (presumptuous as it may sound) may, possibly, arise; for who hath fathomed the mind of man? Its bounds are as unknown, as those of the creation; since the birth of which, perhaps, not One has so far exerted, as not to leave his Possibilities beyond his Attainments, his Powers beyond his Exploits. Forming our judgments, altogether by what has been done, without knowing, or at all inquiring, what [Page 49] possibly might have been done, we naturally enough fall into too mean an opinion of the human mind. If a sketch of the divine Iliad before Homer wrote, had been given to mankind, by some superior being, or otherwise, its execution would, probably, have appeared beyond the power of man. Now, to surpass it, we think impossible. As the First of these opinions would evidently have been a mistake, why may not the Second be so too? Both are founded on the same bottom; on our ignorance of the possible dimensions of the mind of man.
Categories
Provenance
http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/displayprose.cfm?prosenum=16
Citation
At least 12 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1759, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1774, 1778, 1796, 1798).
See Conjectures on Original Composition. In a Letter to the Author of Sir Charles Grandison. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in The Strand; and R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1759). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
The text was initially drawn from RPO and Chadwyck-Healey's Literature Online (LION). The LION text claims to reproduce the 1759 printing but is marred by typographical errors and has been irregularly modernized. These entries checked against Google Books page images for accuracy and corrected for obvious errors, but italics and capitalization have not yet been uniformly transcribed.
See Conjectures on Original Composition. In a Letter to the Author of Sir Charles Grandison. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in The Strand; and R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1759). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
The text was initially drawn from RPO and Chadwyck-Healey's Literature Online (LION). The LION text claims to reproduce the 1759 printing but is marred by typographical errors and has been irregularly modernized. These entries checked against Google Books page images for accuracy and corrected for obvious errors, but italics and capitalization have not yet been uniformly transcribed.
Date of Entry
09/14/2009
