"Knowlege, wisdom, erudition, arts and elegance what are they, but the mere trappings of the mind, if they do not serve to encrease the happiness of the possessor?"
— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the Author
Date
1760-1761, 1762
Metaphor
"Knowlege, wisdom, erudition, arts and elegance what are they, but the mere trappings of the mind, if they do not serve to encrease the happiness of the possessor?"
Metaphor in Context
YOUR last letters betray a mind seemingly fond of wisdom, yet tempested up by a thousand various passions. You would fondly persuade me that my former lessons still influence your conduct, and yet your mind seems not less enslaved than your body. Knowlege, wisdom, erudition, arts and elegance what are they, but the mere trappings of the mind, if they do not serve to encrease the happiness of the possessor? A mind rightly instituted in the school of philosophy, acquires at once the stability of the oak, and the flexibility of the osier. The truest manner of lessening our agonies, is to shrink from their pressure; is to confess that we feel them.
(I, p. 202)
(I, p. 202)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in ECCO-TCP
Citation
First published in the Public Ledger in 1760-1761. At least 25 entries in ESTC (1762, 1769, 1774, 1775 1776, 1782, 1785, 1790, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1797, 1799, 1800).
Text from The Citizen of the World: or Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, Residing in London, to His Friends in the East. (London: Printed for the Author; and sold by J. Newbery and W. Bristow; J. Leake and W. Frederick, Bath; B. Collins, Salisbury; and A. M. Smart and Co. Reading, 1762). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Text from The Citizen of the World: or Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, Residing in London, to His Friends in the East. (London: Printed for the Author; and sold by J. Newbery and W. Bristow; J. Leake and W. Frederick, Bath; B. Collins, Salisbury; and A. M. Smart and Co. Reading, 1762). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
07/25/2014
