what dose the sentence mean?(explain it with the simplest words)Thank you.
" On his deadthbed, Dr. Johnson- once canonical, now more admired than read-- is supposed to have said to a friend who was energetically rearranging his bedclothes, "Thank you, this will do all that a pillow can do."One might say that the canon debaters are all asking of their handful of chosen books that they do a great deal more than any handful of books can do. "

Question

what dose the sentence mean?(explain it with the simplest words)Thank you.
 " On his deadthbed, Dr. Johnson- once canonical, now more admired than read-- is supposed to have said to a friend who was energetically rearranging his bedclothes, "Thank you, this will do all that a pillow can do."One might say that the canon debaters are all asking of their handful of chosen books that they do a great deal more than any handful of books can do.  "

Answer

Hi Leslie
There are two separate sentences here, although the first is a preamble to to second.  Here is my interpretation:
In the first sentence, Dr J is asking the friend to stop fussing with the bedclothes because they are just bedclothes and they are doing their job perfectly well without trying to make them any better.  Moving them about will  not make any difference - a pillow will support your head, so please leave it to do just that.
This theme is then repeated in the second sentence, where the write describes the people who are debating which are the best books that Dr J has written. The writer suggests that it makes no difference how much you argue about them, in the end they are just books and all you can do with a book is to read it.  A book cannot contain any more than the words that have been written in it.

Can I make it simpler?  Yes - bedclothes are bedclothes - all they can do is cover you on your bed.  Books are books - their only purpose is to be read.

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