Other related topics at:
All In Your Mind
611. Boredom; Solitude
Telling the tale of a young woman spending the summer in the
country, uncomfortable with her surroundings: "Thus am I
condemned to solitude; the day moves slowly forward, and I see
the dawn with uneasiness, because I consider that night is at a
great distance. I have tried to sleep by a brook, but find its
murmurs ineffectual; so that I am forced to be awake at least
twelve hours, without visits, without cards, without laughter,
and without flattery. I walk because I am disgusted with sitting
still, and sit down because I am weary with walking. I have no
motive to action, nor any object of love, or hate, or fear, or
inclination. I cannot dress with spirit, for I have neither
rival nor admirer. I cannot dance without a partner, nor be
kind, or cruel, without a lover."
Johnson: Rambler #42 (August 11, 1750); given to the
character of "Euphelia"
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801. Boredom; Soldiers and Sailors;
War
"I suppose every man is shocked when he
hears how frequently
soldiers are wishing for war. The wish is not always sincere;
the greater part are content with sleep and lace, and counterfeit
an ardour which they do not feel; but those who desire it most
are neither prompted by malevolence nor patriotism; they neither
pant for laurels, nor delight in blood; but long to be delivered
from the tyranny of idleness, and restored to the dignity of
active beings."
Johnson: Idler #21 (September 2, 1758)
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802. Boredom; Time
"Time, with all its celerity, moves slowly to him whose whole
employment is to watch its flight."
Johnson: Idler #21 (September 2, 1758)
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946. Boredom; Diversion; Idleness;
Time; Wealth
"Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and ... the
unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than
they know how to use. To set himself free from these
incumbrences, one hurries to Newmarket; another travels over
Europe; one pulls down his house and calls architects about him;
another buys a seat in the country, and follows his hounds over
hedges and through rivers; one makes collections of shells; and
another searches the world for tulips and carnations."
Johnson: Idler #30 (November 11, 1758)
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1,202. Boredom; Diversion;
Satisfaction
"To be able to procure its own entertainments, and to subsist
upon its own stock, is not the prerogative of every mind. There
are, indeed, understandings so fertile and comprehensive, that
they can always feed reflection with new supplies, and suffer
nothing from the preclusion of adventitious amusements; as some
cities have within their own walls enclosed ground enough to feed
their inhabitants in a siege. But others live only from day to
day, and must be constantly enabled, by foreign supplies, to keep
out the encroachments of languor and stupidity."
Johnson: Rambler #135 (July 2, 1751)
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1,785. Boredom; Cities; Country
Life
"They who have already enjoyed the crowds and noise of the great
city, know their desire to return is little more than the
restlessness of a vacant mind, that they are not so much led by
hope as driven by disgust, and wish rather to leave the country
than to see the town."
Johnson: Idler #80 (October 27, 1759)
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