--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The great Cham of literature. (Samuel…" description: "\"The great Cham of literature. (Samuel Johnson)\" — Tobias Smollett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1a/tobias-smollett-18143_books_the-great-cham-of-literature-samuel-john_3023444.jpg" --- # The great Cham of literature. (Samuel Johnson) ![“The great Cham of literature. (Samuel Johnson)” quote by Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1a/tobias-smollett-18143_books_the-great-cham-of-literature-samuel-john_3023444.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1a/tobias-smollett-18143_books_the-great-cham-of-literature-samuel-john_3023444.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1a/tobias-smollett-18143_books_the-great-cham-of-literature-samuel-john_3023444.jpg) > “The great Cham of literature. (Samuel Johnson)” [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The phrase praises a distinguished literary figure, implying high esteem and influence within the literary canon. **In simple terms:** A celebrated writer is praised. Key Takeaway Recognize and study great literary voices. Themes literature recognition history Mood reflective scholarly Type critical historical When to use this quote - academic curricula - public lectures - literary festivals - book clubs Key Concepts canon formation critical analysis Questions to Reflect On - Who decides literary greatness? - How does this affect diverse voices? A Different Perspective Greatness can be subjective and culturally biased. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [During the Samuel Johnson days they had big men enjoying small talk; today we have small men enjoying big talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-allen/during-the-samuel-johnson-days-they-had-big-men-enjoying-small-talk/) [Fred Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-allen/) > [Learn the leading precognita of all things-no need to turn over leaf by leaf, but grasp the trunk hard and you will shake all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/learn-the-leading-precognita-of-all-things-no-need-to-turn-over-leaf/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Samuel Johnson Is Indignant: that Scotland has so few trees.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/samuel-johnson-is-indignant-that-scotland-has-so-few-trees/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I think it was Samuel Johnson who said, "There are two kinds of information in this world: that what you know and that what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-saffo/i-think-it-was-samuel-johnson-who-said-there-are-two-kinds-of/) [Paul Saffo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-saffo/) > [Samuel Johnson called it the vanity of human wishes, and Buddhists talk about the endless cycle of desire. Social psychologists say we get trapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/samuel-johnson-called-it-the-vanity-of-human-wishes-and-buddhists/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [The ethical rule is from Samuel Johnson who believed that maintenance of easily removable ignorance by a responsible office holder was treacherous malfeasance in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-ethical-rule-is-from-samuel-johnson-who-believed-that-maintenance/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Ben Franklin and Samuel Johnson, he credits their wisdom for his success. "They were both utterly brilliant men. And powerful communicators. Both have helped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/ben-franklin-and-samuel-johnson-he-credits-their-wisdom-for-his/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I do find London exciting. Much as I hate to agree with that tedious old git Samuel Johnson, and despite the pompous imbecility of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-do-find-london-exciting-much-as-i-hate-to-agree-with-that-tedious/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [To go back and read Swift and Defoe and Samuel Johnson and Smollett and Pope - all those people we had to read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/to-go-back-and-read-swift-and-defoe-and-samuel-johnson-and-smollett/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [I think Samuel Johnson had it right when he observed that hope is itself a species of happiness. So if we want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-josephson/i-think-samuel-johnson-had-it-right-when-he-observed-that-hope-is/) [Michael Josephson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-josephson/) > [ \[Samuel\] Johnson's conversation was by much too strong for a person accustomed to obsequiousness and flattery; it was mustard in a young child's mouth! ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hester-lynch-piozzi/samuel-johnson-s-conversation-was-by-much-too-strong-for-a-person/) [Hester Lynch Piozzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hester-lynch-piozzi/) > [Perhaps Samuel Johnson was a great man; he was certainly a drumbling one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/perhaps-samuel-johnson-was-a-great-man-he-was-certainly-a-drumbling/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [ In comparing these two writers, he \[Samuel Johnson\] used this expression: "that there was as great a difference between them as between a man… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/in-comparing-these-two-writers-he-samuel-johnson-used-this-expression/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition. —SAMUEL JOHNSON”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/to-be-happy-at-home-is-the-ultimate-result-of-all-ambition-samuel/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [“There are many famous people who could read extremely fast. It was said that England’s Samuel Johnson could read almost as fast as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kump/there-are-many-famous-people-who-could-read-extremely-fast-it-was/) Peter Kump ## More by Tobias Smollett > [The bread I eat in London, is a deleterious paste, mixed up with chalk, alum, and bone ashes: insipid to the taste, and destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/the-bread-i-eat-in-london-is-a-deleterious-paste-mixed-up-with-chalk/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [One wit, like a knuckle of ham in soup, gives a zest and flavour to the dish, but more than one serves only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/one-wit-like-a-knuckle-of-ham-in-soup-gives-a-zest-and-flavour-to-the/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Some folks are wise and some are otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/some-folks-are-wise-and-some-are-otherwise/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [To the valiant actions speak alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/to-the-valiant-actions-speak-alone/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Opposition is the very spur of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/opposition-is-the-very-spur-of-love/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Ridiculous modes, invented by ignorance, and adopted by folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/ridiculous-modes-invented-by-ignorance-and-adopted-by-folly/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Thy spirit, Independence, let me share! 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It is given with great success to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/the-highlanders-regale-themselves-with-whisky-they-find-it-an/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [False as the fowler's artful snare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/false-as-the-fowler-s-artful-snare/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [“Woe be to that nation, where the multitude is at liberty to follow their own inclinations!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/woe-be-to-that-nation-where-the-multitude-is-at-liberty-to-follow/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Writing is all a lottery -- I have been a loser by the works of the greatest men of the age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/writing-is-all-a-lottery-i-have-been-a-loser-by-the-works-of-the/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) [Explore all 32 Tobias Smollett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The great Cham of literature. 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