"Every other passion is alike simple and limited, if it be considered only with regard to the breast which it inhabits; the anatomy of the mind, as that of the body, must perpetually exhibit the same appearances; and though by the continued industry of successive inquirers, new movements will be from time to time discovered, they can affect only the minuter parts, and are commonly of more curiosity than importance."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)


Work Title
Date
Tuesday, October 2, 1753
Metaphor
"Every other passion is alike simple and limited, if it be considered only with regard to the breast which it inhabits; the anatomy of the mind, as that of the body, must perpetually exhibit the same appearances; and though by the continued industry of successive inquirers, new movements will be from time to time discovered, they can affect only the minuter parts, and are commonly of more curiosity than importance."
Metaphor in Context
Every other passion is alike simple and limited, if it be considered only with regard to the breast which it inhabits; the anatomy of the mind, as that of the body, must perpetually exhibit the same appearances; and though by the continued industry of successive inquirers, new movements will be from time to time discovered, they can affect only the minuter parts, and are commonly of more curiosity than importance.
(p. 323)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in UVa E-Text Center; found again reading Adam Potkay, The Passion for Happiness: Samuel Johnson and David Hume (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000), 17.
Citation
Samuel Johnson, Works of Samuel Johnson (Troy, NY: Pafraets Book Company, 1903). Prepared by Charles Keller for UVa E-Text Center, 1995. <Link to UVa E-Text Center>
Date of Entry
06/06/2011

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