Those that have done nothing in life, are not qualified to judge of those that have done little
Interpretation
People who have not acted in life lack the legitimacy to criticize those who have taken minor actions.
This quote by Samuel Johnson emphasizes the notion that individuals who have not made any significant efforts or contributions in their own lives do not possess the moral authority to pass judgment on the actions or achievements of others, no matter how small. It underlines the importance of recognizing the efforts of all individuals, as every action counts, and highlights the hypocrisy of critics who have not engaged in similar endeavors themselves.
In practice
During a team meeting, to encourage understanding among peers.
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.
Honest error is to be pitied not ridiculed.
I forgive myself for not being perfect. I am living the very best way I know how.
If you're determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so. The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available.
Books are like mirrors: if a fool looks in, you cannot expect a genius to look out.
You seem to me to be a pretty lucky young man; keep your eyes open to your mercies. That part of piety is eternal; and the man who forgets to be grateful has fallen asleep in life.
In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. Do not make yourself ill with overwhelm. There is a tendency to fall into being weakened by perseverating on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
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