[The poet] must write as the interpreter of nature and the legislator of mankind, and consider himself as presiding over the thoughts and manners of future generations, as a being superior to time and place.
Rasselas ch. 10 (1759)
![[The poet] must write as the interpreter of nature and the legislator of mankind, and consider himself as presiding over the thoughts and manners of future generations, as a being superior to time and place.](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/samuel-johnson/the-poet-must-write-as-the-interpreter-of-nature-and-the-legislator-of-mankind-and-consider-himself-as-presiding-over.jpg)