
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher
'Passages from the Life of a Philosopher ' Summary
PREFACE.
Some men write their lives to save themselves from ennui, careless of the amount they inflict on their readers. Others write their personal history, lest some kind friend should survive them, and, in showing off his own talent, unwittingly show them up. Others, again, write their own life from a different motive—from fear that the vampires of literature might make it their prey. I have frequently had applications to write my life, both from my countrymen and from foreigners. Some caterers for the public offered to pay me for it. Others required that I should pay them for its insertion; others offered to insert it without charge. One proposed to give me a quarter of a column gratis, and as many additional lines of eloge as I chose to write and pay for at ten-pence per line. To many of these I sent a list of my works, with the remark that they formed the best life of an author; but nobody cared to insert them. I have no desire to write my own biography, as long as I have strength and means to do better work. The remarkable circumstances attending those Calculating Machines, on which I have spent so large a portion of my life, make me wish to place on record some account of their past history. As, however, such a work would be utterly uninteresting to the greater part of my countrymen, I thought it might be rendered less unpalatable by relating some of my experience amongst various classes of society, widely differing from each other, in which I have occasionally mixed. This volume does not aspire to the name of an autobiography. It relates a variety of isolated circumstances in which I have taken part—some of them arranged in the order of time, and others grouped together in separate chapters, from similarity of subject. The selection has been made in some cases from the importance of the matter. In others, from the celebrity of the persons concerned ; whilst several of them furnish interesting illustrations of human character.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1864Authors

Charles Babbage
United States
Charles Babbage was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered by so...
Books by Charles BabbageDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Confessions of al-Ghazali by Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī
The Confessions of al-Ghazali is an intellectual autobiography in which the renowned 11th-century Persian theologian and philosopher Abu Hamid al-Ghaz...

The Martyrs of Science, or, the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler by David Brewster
“The martyrs of Science” gives a brief biography of Galileo, Brahe and Kepler. These three men played a pivotal role in the scientific revolution duri...

In God's Garden by Amy Steedman
"In this book you will not find the stories of all God's saints. I have gathered a few together, just as one gathers a little posy from a garden full...

Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects Vol 9 by Giorgio Vasari
This takes readers on an immersive journey through the lives and works of the greatest artistic minds in history. In Volume 9, Vasari continues his co...

Eve future by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam
Eve Future, written by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, delves into the intricate relationship between a brilliant inventor and his creation, an andro...

Annie Besant: An Autobiography by Annie Besant
In her autobiography, Annie Besant poignantly writes of her search for the truth of what she believed in, leaving Christianity behind to embrace Athei...

The Story of My Childhood by Clara Barton
The book, "The Story Of My Childhood" by Clara Barton is an autobiography about her life. She overcame so many things in her early life especially aft...

Saint Francis of Assisi : A Biography by Johannes Jorgensen
Born to a prosperous cloth merchant of Assisi, Francis (1182-1226) lived the typically high-spirited life of a wealthy young man of his day, which inc...

Journal of Francis Asbury, Volume III by Francis Asbury
As one of the first two bishops of the Methodist church in America and one of the most well-known circuit riders during the spread of Methodism, Franc...

Jane Austen and Her Times by Geraldine Mitton
This book starts saying it won't be a biography but instead will describe the times of Jane Austen, but then details the live of Jane Austen with a bi...
Reviews for Passages from the Life of a Philosopher
No reviews posted or approved, yet...