The Road to Character

Samuel Johnson overcame great adversity from the moment of his birth; a sickly child, he was infected with lymph-node tuberculosis that left him blind in one eye, deaf in one ear, and severely scarred by botched surgeries performed on his neck. A determined youth, he received a severe Classics-based education in Latin and Greek, and discipline for mild laziness made him more determined to develop self-reliance. His penchant for memorization was formidable, and he read the entirety of his father’s bookshop stock to continue his education. In his college years at Oxford, he proved a brilliant scholar, winning accolades for his Latin and Greek translations and his literary prowess in English. Johnson’s belief in Christian doctrine guided his self-searching, austere methods of developing self-reliance despite his disabilities. At 26, he married a woman 20 years his senior; the match seems to have been a happy one. He spent the remainder of his life dedicated to teaching, journalism, continued voracious reading, and the keeping of meticulous private diaries. He believed that it is a writer’s duty to make the world better, and he accomplished this through a disciplined example and writings that display immensely principled character.