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The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia (Oxford World's Classics) by Samuel Johnson is a work of fiction available to read on EtoBox.

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Like almost everything else from Samuel Johnson, RASSELAS concerns the complete un-attainablility of human happiness - the Vanity of Human Wishes - in particular through what he considered to be the vainest of all human quests for it: commune with nature. His entire life was spent saying very little else. Johnson was almost blind. He crawled home from school in Lichfield on all fours, for fear of bumping into things. When his teacher tried to help, he assaulted her. He was still throwing tantrums - picking fights - much later in life, whenever his eyesight was mentioned. There are several recorded instances of it. Where philosophical observations on nature are concerned, this is the crippled viewpoint you're expected to share. He would not have people noticing nature, still less talking about it - 'A blade of grass is always a blade of grass, whether in one country or another.' He wanted everyone to be as visually challenged as he was. He'd 'grow warm' if you had the chance to mention it to his face. He'd 'roar', he'd 'thunder'. he'd 'puff himself up with passion seeking for a vent.' (Boswell's words.) He would not be "Blinking Sam", he said. He refused to be what he was. The res

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Author

Samuel Johnson

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published

2009

Language

EN

ISBN

9780191607844

Category

work of fiction

Subjects

Fiction, Short Stories, Education

Rating

3.44 / 5 (146 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14