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Scolding Carpenters

Dempster [...] said, “We have hardly a right to abuse this tragedy ["Elvira"]; for bad as it is, how vain should either of us be to write one not near so good.”  JOHNSON.  ”Why no, Sir; this is not just reasoning.  You may abuse a tragedy, though you cannot write one.  You may scold a carpenter who has made you a bad table, though you cannot make a table.  It is not your trade to make tables.”

(The Life of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell.  Page 257, Everyman’s Library Edition.)

Tue, 27 Feb 2001 21:33:49 -0600
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