There is little peace or comfort in life if we are always anxious as to future events. He that worries himself with the dread of possible contingencies will never be at rest.
Interpretation
Worrying about the future prevents us from finding peace in the present.
This quote by Samuel Johnson emphasizes that a constant preoccupation with future uncertainties creates anxiety and disrupts one's peace of mind. He suggests that those who dwell on potential problems or outcomes will find it challenging to experience true rest and comfort in their lives, as anxiety over what may come keeps them in a state of unrest.
In practice
A motivational speaker might use this quote to encourage an audience to focus on the present rather than worry about what might happen later.
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.
It is not enough to reach for the brass ring. You must also enjoy the merry go round.
You can't be afraid of getting old. Old is good, if you're gathering in life. Our band is good at understanding that equation.
If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting--both for us and for her.
Worse than not realizing the dreams of your youth, would be to have been young and never dreamed at all.
As soon as a man recognizes that he has drifted into age, he gets reminiscent. He wants to talk and talk; and not about the present or the future, but about his old times. For there is where the pathos of his life lies - and the charm of it. The pathos of it is there because it was opulent with treasures that are gone, and the charm of it is in casting them up from the musty ledgers and remembering how rich and gracious they were.
I think it's like a relay race. You run, and you hand over the baton, and your kids pick it up. They take the stuff they want, throw the rest away, and keep running. That's what life is about.
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