Attainment is followed by neglect, possession by disgust, and the malicious remark of the Greek epigrammatist on marriage may be applied to many another course of life, that its two days of happiness are the first and the last
Interpretation
Success often leads to neglect and dissatisfaction, highlighting the transient nature of happiness in life.
This quote by Samuel Johnson reflects on the nature of human pursuits and the fleeting moments of joy that they can bring. It suggests that despite the attainment of goals or possessions, there can be a subsequent sense of neglect and disgust, indicating that true contentment is often momentary. The analogy to marriage implies that many life experiences, like successful endeavors, may provide happiness only at the beginning and the end, emphasizing a cycle of fulfillment that is all too brief.
In practice
During a motivational speech about the journey of success and its challenges.
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.
When the king asked him what he meant by infesting the sea, the pirate defiantly replied: _x000D_ _x000D_ The same as you do when you infest the whole world;_x000D_ _x000D_ but because I do it with a little ship I am called a robber,_x000D_ _x000D_ and because you do it with a great fleet, you are an emperor.
Countries that perceive themselves to be vulnerable can be expected to try to redress that vulnerability - and in some cases, they will pursue clandestine weapons programs.
My airplane is quiet, and for a moment still an alien, still a stranger to the ground, I am home.
The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.
A checkbook is a theological document, it will tell you who and what you worship.
When a person goes to a country and finds their newspapers filled with nothing but good news, he can bet there are good men in jail.
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