Dr Samuel Johnson - Gough Square, London, UK
N 51° 30.903 W 000° 06.462
30U E 700677 N 5711069
The quotation is on the plinth of the statue to Hodge, Johnson's cat. It reads:
'Sir, when a man is tried of London he is tired of life: for there is in London all that life can afford.'
Waymark Code: WMGG18
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/01/2013
Views: 10
The Samuel Johnson website [visit link] puts the
quotation into context:
""Why, Sir, you find no man, at all
intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of
London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can
afford."
— Samuel Johnson
Boswell and Johnson were discussing
whether or not Boswell's affection for London would wear thin should he choose
to live there, as opposed to the zest he felt on his occasional visits. (Boswell
lived in Scotland, and visited only periodically. Some people are surprised to
learn that Boswell and Johnson were far from inseparable over the last twenty
years of Johnson's life, the period Boswell knew him.)
This discussion happened on
September 20, 1777, and Johnson, someone who hated to spend time alone, was
always going out and enjoying what London had to
offer."