What ever the motive for the insult, it is always best to overlook it; for folly doesn't deserve resentment, and malice is punished by neglect.
Interpretation
It's wiser to ignore insults, as folly doesn't merit anger, and malicious intent is best dealt with by ignoring it.
This quote by Samuel Johnson emphasizes the virtue of overlooking insults and not responding with resentment. He suggests that reacting to foolishness with anger fuels unnecessary conflict, while neglecting malice deprives it of the attention it seeks, effectively diminishing its power over us.
In practice
In a workplace setting, when a colleague makes a snide remark, one might reflect on this quote to avoid escalating the conflict.
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.
The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul
Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about any.
The tears that you spill, the sorrowful, are sweeter than the laughter of snobs and the guffaws of scoffers.
Alas," said Aslan, shaking his head. "It will. Things always work according to their nature. She has won her heart's desire; she has unwearying strength and endless days like a goddess. But length of days with an evil heart is only length of misery and already she begins to know it. All get what they want; they do not always like it.
Don't get older just to get wiser. If you get older, you will be wiser, I believe that - if you dare. But get older because it's fun!
Your people smarts will prove ten times more valuable than all the book smarts you can't get.
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