Famous Quotes | We stood talking for some time...

We stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley’s ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I shall never forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it, “I refute it thus.” - Samuel Johnson
Attribution: Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), British author, lexicographer. (Originally published 1791). Boswell’s Life of Johnson, Aug. 6, 1763, p. 333, Oxford University Press (1980).

Categories: Argument, Author, Common Sense, Idealism, Lexicographer

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