It "is curious to observe how the nature of truth may be changed by the garb it wears; softened to the admonition of friendship, or soured into the severity of reproof: yet this severity may be useful to some tempers; it somewhat resembles a file; disagreeable in its operation, but hard metals may be the brighter for it."
— Mackenzie, Henry (1745-1831)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand
Date
1771
Metaphor
It "is curious to observe how the nature of truth may be changed by the garb it wears; softened to the admonition of friendship, or soured into the severity of reproof: yet this severity may be useful to some tempers; it somewhat resembles a file; disagreeable in its operation, but hard metals may be the brighter for it."
Metaphor in Context
"This is a strange creature," said his friend to Harley. "I cannot say, answered he, that his remarks are of the pleasant kind: it is curious to observe how the nature of truth may be changed by the garb it wears; softened to the admonition of friendship, or soured into the severity of reproof: yet this severity may be useful to some tempers; it somewhat resembles a file; disagreeable in its operation, but hard metals may be the brighter for it.
(p. 33 in Oxford edition)
(p. 33 in Oxford edition)
Categories
Provenance
Reading. Text from Stanford's HDIS.
Citation
29 entries (1771, 1773, 1775, 1778, 1780, 1781, 1783, 1785, 1787, 1788, 1790, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1797, 1799, 1800).
See The Man of Feeling (London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1771). <Link to ECCO>
Reading Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling, ed. Brian Vickers. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001).
See The Man of Feeling (London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1771). <Link to ECCO>
Reading Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling, ed. Brian Vickers. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001).
Date of Entry
09/21/2007
Date of Review
09/21/2007
