James Boswell, Life of Johnson, 1791

Boswell, James. Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Vol. 2. 2 vols. London: London and New York : Macmillan, 1894.

He talked with an uncommon animation of travelling into distant countries: that the mind was enlarged by it, and that a acquisition of dignity of character was derived from it. He expressed a particular enthusiasm with respect to visiting the wall of China. I catched it for the moment, and said I really believed I should go and see the wall of China had I not children, of whom it was my duty to take care. “Sir,” he said, “by doing so, you would do what would be of importance in raising your children to eminence. There would be a luster at all times regarded s the children of a man who had gone to view the wall of China; I am serious, Sir.” [179]