Thus the study of Samuel Johnson is seen to be something more than the enjoyment of a great clubman and a great diner-out whose conversational exploits have been uniquely described by a great literary artist. Johnson's personality presents many facets and many paradoxes. The man whose character and opinions have delighted, and continue to delight, great multitudes of readers, was a man to whom life was something to be endured rather than enjoyed; and those against whom he displayed his most violent prejudices — Whigs, Americans, Atheists, Scotsmen — are among his most faithful worshippers. When Goldsmith proposed some additions to the Club, since the existing members had travelled over one another's minds, Johnson flashed out
'Sir, you have not travelled over my mind, I assure you'.
Nor, perhaps, have we.