Tag: Charles Caleb Colton

To Seek Happiness by Changing Anything But One’s Own Disposition Will Waste Life in Fruitless Efforts

Samuel Johnson? Noah Webster? Orison Swett Marden? Charles Caleb Colton? Tryon Edwards?

Question for Quote Investigator: If one’s contentment depends upon external forces and events that one cannot control then one should expect continual heartache. Seeking happiness requires changing one’s own dispositions. This notion has been attributed to the famous English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, the noteworthy U.S. lexicographer Noah Webster, and the popular motivational author Orison Swett Marden. Would you please help me to determine the originator together with a citation for the precise phrasing?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1750 Samuel Johnson wrote a piece in the London periodical “The Rambler” in which he discussed the philosophy of Stoicism:[1] 1756, The Rambler of Samuel Johnson (Reprinted), Volume 1 of 4, Fourth Edition, Issue Date: April 7, 1750, Quote page 28, Printed for A, Millar, in the Strand, London. (Google Books Full View) link

That man should never suffer his happiness to depend upon external circumstances, is one of the chief precepts of the Stoical philosophy. . .

Johnson discussed a poet who fantasized about traveling to America to attain a life of leisure and retreat. Yet, Johnson believed that the cause of the poet’s unhappiness was internal and achieving contentment required a mental shift. The word “trial” was spelled “tryal”. Boldface added to excepts by QI:[2] 1756, The Rambler of Samuel Johnson (Reprinted), Volume 1 of 4, Fourth Edition, Issue Date: April 7, 1750, Quote page 33, Printed for A, Millar, in the Strand, London. (Google Books Full View) link

He would, upon the tryal, have been soon convinced, that the fountain of content must spring up in the mind; and that he who has so little knowledge of human nature, as to seek happiness by changing any thing but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he purposes to remove.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading To Seek Happiness by Changing Anything But One’s Own Disposition Will Waste Life in Fruitless Efforts

References

References
↑1 1756, The Rambler of Samuel Johnson (Reprinted), Volume 1 of 4, Fourth Edition, Issue Date: April 7, 1750, Quote page 28, Printed for A, Millar, in the Strand, London. (Google Books Full View) link
↑2 1756, The Rambler of Samuel Johnson (Reprinted), Volume 1 of 4, Fourth Edition, Issue Date: April 7, 1750, Quote page 33, Printed for A, Millar, in the Strand, London. (Google Books Full View) link

Do Not Wait To Strike Till the Iron Is Hot; But Make It Hot By Striking

William Butler Yeats? William B. Sprague? Benjamin Franklin? Richard Sharp? Charles Lamb? Charles Caleb Colton? Oliver Cromwell? Peleg Sprague? Ernest Hemingway? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: A popular proverb highlights the limited duration of an opportunity:

Strike while the iron is hot.

This metaphor has been astutely extended with advice for greater challenges:

Make the iron hot by striking.

This full metaphor has been credited to the English military leader Oliver Cromwell, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, and the American novelist Ernest Hemingway. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: The basic proverb appeared in one of “The Canterbury Tales” called “The Tale of Melibeus” by Geoffrey Chaucer written in the latter half of the 1300s. Here is the original spelling together with a modern rendition. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[1] 1860, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Edited by Thomas Wright, The Tale of Melibeus, Start Page 150, Quote Page 152, Richard Griffin and Company, London and Glasgow. (Google Books Full View) link

…whil that iren is hoot men scholden smyte…
…while the iron is hot men should smite…

The earliest full match known to QI appeared in a 1782 letter from the famous statesman Benjamin Franklin to Reverend Richard Price about using the press to spread ideas. The letter was included in “Memoirs of the Life of The Rev. Richard Price” published in 1815:[2]1815, Memoirs of the Life of The Rev. Richard Price by William Morgan, Volume 5, (Letter within footnote), Letter from: Benjamin Franklin, Letter to: Richard Price, Letter date: June 13, 1782, Start … Continue reading

The facility with which the same truths may be repeatedly enforced by placing them daily in different lights in newspapers which are every where read, gives a great chance of establishing them. And we now find, that it is not only right to strike while the iron is hot, but that it may be very practicable to heat it by continually striking.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order. Continue reading Do Not Wait To Strike Till the Iron Is Hot; But Make It Hot By Striking

References

References
↑1 1860, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Edited by Thomas Wright, The Tale of Melibeus, Start Page 150, Quote Page 152, Richard Griffin and Company, London and Glasgow. (Google Books Full View) link
↑2 1815, Memoirs of the Life of The Rev. Richard Price by William Morgan, Volume 5, (Letter within footnote), Letter from: Benjamin Franklin, Letter to: Richard Price, Letter date: June 13, 1782, Start Page 95, Quote Page 96, Printed for R. Hunter, Successor to J. Johnson, London. (Google Books Full View) link
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