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  ...the publick of all that he desires to buy or sell; whether his wares be material or intellectual; whether he makes clothes, or teaches the mathematicks; whether he be a tutor that wants a pupil, or a pupil that wants a tutor.
Whatever is common is despised. Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is, therefore, become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquence sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetick.
Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement.   I remember a _wash-ball_ that had a quality truly wonderful--it gave an _exquisite edge to the razor_. And there are now to be sold, _for ready money only_, some _duvets for bed-coverings, of down, beyond comparison superior to what is called otter-down_, and indeed such, that its _many excellencies cannot be here set forth_. With one excellence we are made acquainted--_it is warmer than four or five blankets, and lighter than one._
There are some, however, that know the prejudice of...   Johnson, Samuel

Excerpt from The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 04 The Adventurer; The Idler · This quote is tagged Advertising · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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