JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it,
Sir, every man will have as fine a thing as he can get; as a large
diamond for his ring.' BOSWELL. 'Pardon me, Sir: a man of a narrow mind
will not think of it, a slight trinket will satisfy him:
"_Nee sufferre queat majoris pondera gemmae_[561]."'
I told him I should send him some Essays which I had written[562], which
I hoped he would be so good as to read, and pick out the good ones.
JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, send me only the good ones; don't make _me_
pick them.'
I heard him once say, 'Though the proverb _Nullum numen abest, si sit
prudentia[563], does not always prove true, we may be certain of the
converse of it, _Nullum numen adest, si sit imprudentia_.'
Once, when Mr. Seward was going to Bath, and asked his commands, he
said, 'Tell Dr. Harrington that I wish he would publish another volume
of the _Nugae antiquae_[564]; it is a very pretty book[565].' Mr. Seward
seconded this wish, and recommended to Dr. Harrington to dedicate it to
Johnson, and take for his motto, what Catullus says to Cornelius Nepos:--
'----_namque tu solebas,
Meas esse aliquid putare_ NUGAS[566].
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