I know not why any one but a school boy in his declamation would whine over the Commonwealth of Rome, which grew great only by the misery of the rest of mankind. The Romans, like others, as soon as they were rich, grew corrupt; and in their corruption sold the lives and freedoms of themselves and of one another.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the moral implications of Rome's greatness, highlighting the cost of prosperity in terms of human suffering and corruption.
Samuel Johnson critiques the Commonwealth of Rome by pointing out that its success came at the expense of other nations and the moral decay of its people. The greatness of Rome is juxtaposed with the misery it caused, suggesting that wealth and power can lead to corruption and the loss of freedom, not just for others but for the Romans themselves. Johnson's words serve as a cautionary reminder about the ethics of ambition and prosperity.
In practice
In a debate about ethical leadership, this quote can be used to argue the importance of accountability in governance.
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 way to recover the meaning of life and the worthwhileness of life is to recover the power of experience, to have impulse voices from within, and to be able to hear these impulse voices from within — and make the point: This can be done.
A distracted existence leads us to no goal
The purpose that you wish to find in life, like a cure you seek, is not going to fall from the sky. ...I believe purpose is something for which one is responsible; it's not just divinely assigned.
As for the men in power, they are so anxious to establish the myth of infallibility that they do their utmost to ignore truth.
Perhaps we all lose our sense of reality to the precise degree to which we are engrossed in our own work, and perhaps that is why we see in the increasing complexity of our mental constructs a means for greater understanding, even while intuitively we know that we shall never be able to fathom the imponderables that govern our course through life.
What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations.
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