Popular quotes: The meaning an history behind "Knowledge is of two kinds..."
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or
we know where we can find information on it." - Samuel Johnson
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was born in Staffordshire, England, the son of a bookseller. He studied at Oxford for a time before financial considerations forced him to leave before obtaining his degree, in order to work as a teacher. In 1737 he went to London as a journalist. In 1747 he started work on his Dictionary of the English Language which he anticipated would take him
three years, but took eight.
He published many works (Project Gutenberg have a very comprehensive online library of his works), especially after being awarded a crown pension in 1762, which allowed him to focus on writing and developing his reputation as a conversationalist. One of his main forums was the Literary Club, of which he was a founder member.
Note: Do not confuse Dr Samuel Johnson with Samuel Johnson (1822-1882), the Protestant religious leader, or even Samuel Johnson (1830-1909) a pioneer in agricultural regulation; not to mention Samuel Johnson (1882-1942), the syndicated columnist who opposed Roosevelt!
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"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or
we know where we can find information on it." - Samuel Johnson
