I have been looking over Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, and it may very well have some interesting ramifications on my future. As I organize my thoughts, I intend to post them.

...A year later...

I am still organizing my thoughts on these two guys. :) However, I find it interesting that I first encountered the exchange between Boswell and Johnson during the winter of 2001, which was the most influential winter of my teenage life.

An unfinished essay of mine (sometime in early 2002? I remember mentioning it to someone, then never finishing it :P) reads at the top:

During 2001, I was thinking very heavily on diligence and effective living for Christ. When almost to the despair point, I began to read Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.

The essay goes on for a while, contains many of the dark musings of that important year, then includes the following excerpt from the book. (hmm. This was a combo essay and literary analysis. I just didn't know how to do one at the time. It shows)

Yes. I did type this in by hand. It was that important and formative for me. This letter, written so long ago, is one of the most influential things I have ever read. Or at least, one of the most dramatically influential.