There are occasions on which it is noble to dare to stand alone. To be pious among infidels, to be disinterested in a time of general venality, to lead a life of virtue and reason in the midst of sensualists, is a proof of a mind intent on nobler things than the praise or blame of men, of a soul fixed in the contemplation of the highest good, and superiour to the tyranny of custom and example.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the value of maintaining personal integrity and virtue even when faced with societal pressures to conform.
Samuel Johnson's quote highlights the importance of standing firm in one's beliefs and values, even when it means going against the prevailing norms of society. It suggests that true nobility lies in the courage to uphold virtue and rational thought in the presence of moral decay and popular opinion. The ability to remain steadfast in the pursuit of what is good, despite external influences, is a mark of a superior mind and soul dedicated to higher ideals.
In practice
Using this quote in a speech about personal integrity and leadership.
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.
Some people do really find fault like there's a reward for it.
Being at the top of your game intellectually, philosophically, politically, is not a forever thing.
Character is the essence of all that a man has seen in life and regards as high and exalted. Character is like truth: the substance of the things that a man has forgotten but the substance of the things that are worth remembering in life.
If I could not be persuaded into doing what I thought wrong, I never will be tricked into it.
It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos.
It 's wiser being good than bad; It 's safer being meek than fierce; It 's fitter being sane than mad. My own hope is, a sun will pierce The thickest cloud earth ever stretched; That after Last returns the First, Though a wide compass round be fetched.
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