...it will not always happen that the success of a poet is proportionate to his labor.
Interpretation
Success in poetry does not always correlate with the effort put into it.
This quote by Samuel Johnson highlights the idea that hard work does not guarantee success in creative pursuits, such as poetry. It suggests that talent, timing, and other external factors can also play significant roles in determining the level of success an artist achieves, illustrating the unpredictable nature of artistic careers.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the unpredictability of success in the arts.
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.
To succeed in business it is necessary to make others see things as you see them.
You don't accomplish much by swimming with the mainstream. Hell, a dead fish can do that.
Being successful and fulfilling your lifes purpose are not at all the same thing; You can reach all your personal goals, become a raving success by the worlds standard and still miss your purpose in this life.
...so remember: great achievements take time, there is no overnight success.
Success is not built on success. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe.
I paid my dues; I certainly did.
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