It is advantageous to an author that his book should be attacked as well as praised. Fame is a shuttlecock. If it be struck at one end of the room, it will soon fall to the ground. To keep it up, it must be struck at both ends.
Interpretation
A good book attracts both criticism and praise, which is essential for maintaining its prominence.
Samuel Johnson emphasizes the importance of both praise and criticism for an author's work. He likens fame to a shuttlecock, suggesting that it requires continuous engagement and attention from both supporters and detractors to remain relevant and elevated in the literary world. Without challenge or support, a book's recognition is likely to decline.
In practice
In a discussion about literary criticism, one might reference this quote to highlight the necessity of diverse opinions in literature.
To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences, and asks why books are written which cannot be understood.
To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.
Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.
When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make lemonade.
I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
I think if people really read Martin Luther King, Jr., then they would begin to understand what he really represented.
When I write, I aim in my mind not toward New York but toward a vague spot a little to the east of Kansas.
If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable.
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