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  ...Chesterfield's _Misc. Works_, iv. 130.
[150] Johnson, however, hated anything that came near to tyranny in the management of children. Writing to Mrs. Thrale, who had told him that she had on one occasion gone against the wish of her nurses, he said:--'That the nurses fretted will supply me during life with an additional motive to keep every child, as far as is possible, out of a nurse's power. A nurse made of common mould will have a pride in overcoming a child's reluctance. There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful.   power is nothing but as it is felt, and the delight of superiority is proportionate to the resistance overcome.' _Piozzi Letters_, ii. 67.
[151] 'Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed.' 2 Henry VI, act iv. sc. 10. John Wesley's mother, writing of the way she had brought up her children, boys and girls alike, says:--'When turned a year old (and some before) they were taught to fear the rod, and to cry softly; by which means they escaped abundance of correction they might otherwise...   Johnson, Samuel

Excerpt from Life of Johnson, Volume 1 1709-1765 · This quote is about mind · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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