The Life of Samuel Johnson

"Samuel Johnson has such insight into human nature. His devoted fan and friend James Boswell wrote The Life of Samuel Johnson . It’s charming to read. He had so much to say about self-knowledge and what it means to be happy. In the book, he quotes a Spanish proverb that was well known in his time: “He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.” I came to feel that it had enormous meaning for happiness, that I could only find it if I brought it. Johnson, an eccentric 18th century lexicographer, essayist and editor, is the patron saint of my happiness project in that I am guided by his epigrams. He wrote, “Grant me God to resolve a right and to keep my resolutions”. He made and broke resolutions throughout his whole life and yet always came back and tried to do more. And he has this great line: “No money is better spent than what is laid out for domestic satisfaction.” I’m an under-spender, so this one helps me break out the wallet to fix the blender. I am basing my next book on his epigram, “to be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition”. When you think about all the different elements of life, being happy at home is most important. Benjamin Franklin did something very similar. One of my most successful happiness project resolutions is to join or start a group because, as you say, strong relationships with other people are the key to happiness. Being part of a group is an efficient way to maintain a lot of relationships; social networks are stronger than isolated relationships. If your group is formed around something that you feel passionate about, it’s also a way to make sure that you spend time on what gives you pleasure. People are so busy they don’t make time for things that are important to them. Since I started my happiness project I’ve joined or started something like 15 groups. My favourite groups talk about young adult literature. I thought I might be the only adult in New York City who would want to do this, but the first group got so big it had to close to new members. I started a second group and then a third."

"This is the groupies’ biography in that Boswell was a cloying groupie but, nonetheless, he wrote the greatest Johnson biography of all time and the best known. It was written at the time and, of course, Boswell took down every word Johnson said. It is extremely vivid, though you never know to what extent Boswell was tarting it up at the end of the day, but, given that Johnson had this pithy style, it’s probably hard to embellish very much. Johnson made it a practice from his earliest youth never to say anything unless he said it as well as you could possibly say it. He had a crisp style and spoke Latin so his English was very good."