What's the meaning of as little as he decently could in the following paragraph? Many thanks!
Does it imply that Samuel Johnson wrote as little as possible in the late of his life?

In 1762 the government gave Samuel Johnson aspecial pension which freed him from the burden of "writing for a living." So during the last twenty years of his life he wrote as little as he decently could and enjoyed a pleasant and easy life, sort of as a literary authority, talking about and commenting on literature and literary men in his famous Literary Club.

Question

What's the meaning of as little as he decently could in the following paragraph? Many thanks!
Does it imply that Samuel Johnson wrote as little as possible in the late of his life?

In 1762 the government gave Samuel Johnson aspecial pension which freed him from the burden of "writing for a living." So during the last twenty years of his life he wrote as little as he decently could and enjoyed a pleasant and easy life, sort of as a literary authority, talking about and commenting on literature and literary men in his famous Literary Club.

Answer

Since Samuel Johnson received a pension, he found little need to write very much, since he was already paid to do nothing.

Answer

He wrote as little as he could get away with writing. He only wrote what he had to.

Hoped this helped!

Answer

Hello Shen,

"Samuel Johnson" lived to old age and was plagued by illness including partial deafness and blindness. So in the last 20 years of his life he wrote as much as he could  and that was actually ' a little' in the right manner that suits his old age and ill health. 
Since there was no urge to write for a living he wrote as much as he could, mostly commentaries on works of literature.

Answers · 3

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