It seems not more reasonable to leave the right of printing unrestrained, because writers may be afterwards censured, than it would be to sleep with doors unbolted, because by our laws we can hang a thief.
Interpretation
The quote argues against censorship in writing, suggesting that freedom of expression should not be limited due to the potential for criticism or wrongdoing.
Samuel Johnson's quote highlights the tension between freedom of expression and the potential consequences of that freedom. He likens the act of censoring writers to the unreasonable practice of locking doors at night only because thieves exist. Johnson suggests that it is more rational to allow writers to express themselves freely, even if some might later face censure, just as it is unreasonable to restrict freedom out of fear of criminals.
In practice
During a debate on freedom of speech, this quote could be used to emphasize the importance of allowing diverse opinions.
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 primary function of government is to protect the minority of the opulent from the majority of the poor.
Ninety-nine per cent of who you are is invisible and untouchable.
I understand a ship to be made for the carrying and preservation of the cargo, and so long as the ship can be saved, with the cargo, it should never be abandoned. This Union likewise should never be abandoned unless it fails and the possibility of its preservation shall cease to exist, without throwing passengers and cargo overboard.
It is the man who can think of no alternative to his enslavement who is truly a slave.
In the end, the aggressors always destroy themselves, making way for others who know how to cooperate and get along. Life is much less a competitive struggle for survival than a triumph of cooperation and creativity.
The premonition of madness is complicated by the fear of lucidity in madness, the fear of the moments of return and reunion... One would welcome chaos if one were not afraid of lights in it.
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