“There is a wicked inclination in most people to suppose an old man decayed in his intellects. If a young or middle-aged man, when leaving a company, does not remember where he laid his hat, it is nothing; but if the same inattention is discovered in an old man, people will shrug up their shoulders, and say, "His memory is going."”

1783, p. 501
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol IV

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Samuel Johnson 362
English writer 1709–1784

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