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Quotation from The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell

“That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help.”

James Boswell (spoken by Samuel Johnson)

The Life of Samuel Johnson, 1763 (Aetat. 54): first meeting, 16 May (Project Gutenberg #1564 (Osgood abridgment, 1917))

Portrait of James Boswell

Boswell, introduced in Davies's shop, says he comes from Scotland but cannot help it; Johnson turns the phrase against him.

Citation: "That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help." — James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, 1763 (Aetat. 54): first meeting, 16 May (Project Gutenberg #1564 (Osgood abridgment, 1917)). (id boswell-life-of-johnson-q4)

Portrait: James Boswell of Auchinleck, Joshua Reynolds, Public domain.

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Quote card: That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help.