There are goods so opposed that we cannot seize both, but, by too much prudence, may pass between them at too great a distance to reach either.
Interpretation
Over-caution can lead to missed opportunities when faced with difficult choices.
Samuel Johnson's quote reflects the idea that when confronted with two opposing goods, we may become so overly cautious in trying to avoid making a wrong choice that we end up being unable to choose either option. It emphasizes the importance of balancing prudence with the willingness to engage with life's complexities, suggesting that sometimes we must take risks to achieve meaningful outcomes.
In practice
A speaker addressing a group about decision-making in business can use this quote to highlight the dangers of excessive caution.
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.
This really should be kept secret, but you can learn a lot by watching the making-of DVDs. Every actor should do it. You figure out what you're dealing with.
Only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.
How marvelous, wide and broad is my Inheritance! Time is my property, my estate is time.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
The highest purpose of intellectual cultivation is to give a man a perfect knowledge and mastery of his own inner self.
By the very act of arguing, you awake the patient's reason; and once it is awake, who can foresee the result?
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