This Man Isn't Tired of London

Posted by Mike Gerrard May 11, 2008

It was September 20, 1777, when Dr Samuel Johnson made his famous remark about London to James Boswell:

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

I am indebted to the Samuel Johnson Soundbite Page, for this and other marvelous quotes by Dr Johnson. This in particular appealed to me right now:

"Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts."

The reason I went looking for that famous Johnson quotation, which is as true today as it was when it was said, over 200 years ago, is because of some London walks I've been reviewing lately. What would Dr Johnson have made of audiowalks, or podcasts? As he was a man of intellectual energy and great curiosity, I'm sure he would have loved them. He would have been fascinated by the way Brick Lane, for example, had changed over the centuries.

And he would have loved the London walks booklets produced by Louis' London Walks, which explore those little lanes and courts, and cover the tapestry of London life that Johnson relished so much, from the Beatles to Jack the Ripper, from the historic riverside pubs (old enough for Johnson to have drunk in them) to Princess Diana, and from the fictional London of Sherlock Holmes to the all-too-real London of the Kray Twins.

Next weekend I'm off exploring Maritime Greenwich, and can't wait. I'm not yet tired of London, and so thankfully not yet tired of life.

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