Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for little matters.
Interpretation
Use precise language instead of grandiose words for trivial issues.
Samuel Johnson emphasizes the importance of clarity and precision in communication. By advising against the use of extravagant vocabulary for minor topics, he advocates for a straightforward approach that values substance over style, encouraging effective dialogue and understanding.
In practice
In a public speech about community issues, you might quote Johnson to emphasize the importance of straightforward discussions.
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.
'Bellyache' is totally fictional. I like writing about things that aren't real. The song is about not trusting anyone and then putting trust in yourself and realizing that you don't know what you are doing, either. Or realizing that things you do with a group of people that you think are cool in the moment are ultimately all on you.
Spending plenty of time on something can be the most sophisticated form of revenge.
You can't have good ideas unless you have lots of ideas.
Simplicity, patience, compassion._x000D_ _x000D_ These three are your greatest treasures._x000D_ _x000D_ Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being._x000D_ _x000D_ Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are._x000D_ _x000D_ Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.
Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for Him so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first?
Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
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