Justice is indispensably and universally necessary, and what is necessary must always be limited, uniform, and distinct
Interpretation
Justice is essential for society and must be applied consistently and clearly.
This quote emphasizes that justice is a fundamental requirement for any society, suggesting that its principles should not only be universally applicable but also uniform in their implementation. Johnson argues that true justice cannot be arbitrary; it must be distinct and clearly defined in its limits to ensure fairness and equality among individuals.
In practice
This quote could be used in a courtroom to emphasize the importance of fair legal practices.
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 first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.
What has validity is your living, not what happens tomorrow.
If your life is Christ, then your death will be only more of Christ, forever. If your life is only Christlessness, then your death will be only more Christlessness, forever. That's not fundamentalism, that's the law of non-contradiction.
To my utter despair I have discovered, and discover every day anew, that there is in the masses no revolutionary idea or hope or passion.
It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.
The splinter in your eye is the best magnifying-glass available.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.