Editing Oliver Goldsmith (section)

==Personal life==
In his ''Life'', [[Washington Irving]] states that Goldsmith was between 5'4" and 5'6" in height, not heavily built but quite muscular and with rather plain features. In character, he had a lively sense of fun, was totally guileless, and never happier than when in the light-hearted company of children. The money that he sporadically earned was often frittered away or happily given away to the next good cause that presented itself so that any financial security tended to be fleeting and short-lived. Goldsmith's talents were unreservedly recognised by Samuel Johnson, whose patronage – somewhat resented by Boswell – aided his eventual recognition in the literary world and the world of drama.

Goldsmith was described by contemporaries as prone to envy, a congenial but impetuous and disorganised personality who once planned to emigrate to America but failed because he missed his ship. At some point around this time, he worked at Thornhill Grammar School, later basing Squire Thornhill (in ''The Vicar of Wakefield'') on his benefactor Sir George Savile and certainly spending time with eminent scientist Rev. John Mitchell, whom he probably knew from London. Mitchell sorely missed good company, which Goldsmith naturally provided in spades. [[Thomas De Quincey]] wrote of him "All the motion of Goldsmith's nature moved in the direction of the true, the natural, the sweet, the gentle".<ref>''De Quincey Writings'' (ed) James Thomas Fields 1850–1855</ref>

Later researchers have speculated that Goldsmith may have suffered from [[color blindness|colour blindness]], a condition which was not described until years after Goldsmith's death. Munro MacLennan described several instances from Goldsmith's life which suggest that he had an inability to distinguish between certain colours.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=MacLennan |first=J. Munro |date=1951 |title=Was Oliver Goldsmith Colour-Blind? |url=https://ruor.uottawa.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/49b287b7-d7a7-4db4-9983-e54004e65ed0/content |degree=PhD |chapter= |publisher=[[University of Ottawa]] |docket= |oclc= |access-date=May 10, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=MacLennan |first1=Munro |title=The secret of Oliver Goldsmith |date=1975 |publisher=Vantage Press |isbn=978-0-533-01582-5}}</ref>

=== Religious beliefs ===
Goldsmith was an Anglican,<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 April 2012 |title=After Rowan: The Coherence and Future of Anglicanism |url=http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/04/04/3470498.htm |website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref> and famously said "as I take my shoes from the shoemaker, and my coat from the taylor, so I take my religion from the priest".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page: Quotes on Oliver Goldsmith |url=http://www.samueljohnson.com/goldsmith.html}}</ref>

Thomas Hurst wrote that Goldsmith "recognised with joy the existence and perfections of a Deity. For the Christian revelation also, he was always understood to have a profound respect – knowing that it was the source of our best hopes and noblest expectations."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Evans |first1=John |title=Goldsmith |year=1993 |isbn=978-1-349-23095-2 |page=23 |chapter=Goldsmith and Religion |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-23093-8_5}}</ref>[[File:Plaque To Oliver Goldsmith.JPG|thumb|left|A plaque to Oliver Goldsmith at the [[Temple Church]] in London, where he was buried.]]