Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Words for Wednesday

Here's something that I've never really thought much about, but apparently the English man-of-letters Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) did, and he had this to say on the topic:

"Mankind have a strong attachment to the habitations to which they have been accustomed. You see the inhabitants of Norway do not with one consent quit it, and go to some part of America, where there is a mild climate, and where they may have the same produce from land, with the tenth part of the labor. No, Sir; their affection for their old dwellings, and the terror of a general change, keep them at home. Thus, we see many of the finest spots in the world thinly inhabited, and many rugged spots well inhabited."

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