Reproof should not exhaust its power upon petty failings.
Interpretation
Criticism should be reserved for significant mistakes rather than minor faults.
This quote by Samuel Johnson emphasizes the importance of focusing our corrective efforts on substantial issues rather than trivial errors. It suggests that being overly critical of small failings can diminish the effectiveness of feedback and hinder growth, advocating for a more balanced approach to reproof that distinguishes between greater and lesser faults.
In practice
In a team meeting, when discussing performance reviews, one might reference this quote to advocate for constructive feedback on major issues instead of minor mistakes.
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.
Old is authentic. Old is genuine. Old is valuable.
The interior joy we feel when we have done a good deed is the nourishment the soul requires.
Until one looks back on one's own past one fails to realise what an extraordinary view of the world a child has.
The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.
Always try to keep a patch of sky above your life.
At school any spontaneous act was likely to get me into trouble. I learned never to act on impulse, and that whatever came into my mind first should be rejected in favour of better ideas. I learned that my imagination Wasnβt βgoodβ enough. I learned that the first idea was unsatisfactory because it was (1) psychotic; (2) obscene; (3) unoriginal. The truth is that the best ideas are often psychotic, obscene and unoriginal.
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