"I am inclined to think, no mind was ever wholly exempt from envy; which, perhaps, may have been implanted, as an instinct essential to our nature"

— Smollett, Tobias (1721-1777)


Place of Publication
Dublin
Publisher
Printed for A. Leathley, J. Exshaw, H. Saunders
Date
1771
Metaphor
"I am inclined to think, no mind was ever wholly exempt from envy; which, perhaps, may have been implanted, as an instinct essential to our nature"
Metaphor in Context
Those originals are not fit for conversation. If they would maintain the advantage they have gained by their writing, they should never appear but upon paper--For my part, I am shocked to find a man have sublime ideas in his head, and nothing but illiberal sentiments in his heart--The human soul will be generally found most defective in the article of candour--I am inclined to think, no mind was ever wholly exempt from envy; which, perhaps, may have been implanted, as an instinct essential to our nature. I am afraid we sometimes palliate this vice, under the specious name of emulation. I have known a person remarkably generous, humane, moderate, and apparently self-denying, who could not hear even a friend commended, without betraying marks of uneasiness; as if that commendation had implied an odious comparison to his prejudice, and every wreath of praise added to the other's character, was a garland plucked from his own temples. This is a malignant species of jealousy, of which I stand acquitted in my own conscience--Whether it is a vice, or an infirmity, I leave you to inquire.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
At least 29 entries in the ESTC (1771, 1772, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1779, 1781, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1788, 1790, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1799, 1800).

See The Expedition of Humphry Clinker. By the Author of Roderick Random. In Two Volumes. (Dublin: Printed for A. Leathley, J. Exshaw, H. Saunders, 1771).
Date of Entry
03/11/2005

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.