We stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley’s ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I shall never forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it, “I refute it thus.”

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic

Comment (6 Aug 1763)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791).