"There are many diseases both of the body and mind, which it is far easier to prevent than to cure, and therefore I hope you will think me employed in an office not useless either to learning or virtue, if I describe the symptoms of an intellectual malady, which, though at first it seizes only the passions, will, if not speedily remedied, infect the reason, and, from blasting the blossoms of knowledge, proceed in time to canker the root."
Rambler, No. 95
Originally published semiweekly in 208 folio numbers: London: John Payne and J. Bouquet, 1750-1752. At least 46 entries in ESTC (1750, 1751, 1752, 1756, 1761, 1763, 1767, 1771, 1772, 1776, 1779, 1781, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799, 1800).<br>
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Text from Samuel Johnson, <u>Works of Samuel Johnson</u> (Troy, NY: Pafraets Book Company, 1903). Prepared by Charles Keller for UVa E-Text Center, 1995. &lt;<a href="http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Joh1Ram.html">Link to UVa E-Text Center</a>&gt;