I hope I shall never be deterred from detecting what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian.
Interpretation
Stand firm in your convictions despite threats or intimidation.
This quote emphasizes the importance of steadfastness in one's principles and the courage to resist intimidation from those who might try to suppress the truth. Samuel Johnson advocates for an unwavering commitment to justice and integrity, suggesting that one should never be discouraged from uncovering deceit, regardless of the threats posed by unscrupulous individuals.
In practice
In a debate about ethics, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of standing up for what is right.
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.
...We are intensely proud of their noble record and are glad to have had the whole world see how irresistible they are in their might when a cause which America holds dear is at stake. The whole nation has reason to be proud of them.
I'm a black lady from the Lower East Side of New York. Not a lot intimidates me.
If you banish fear, nothing terribly bad can happen to you.
If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated suffering.
The way to defeat fear: decide on a course of conduct and follow it. Keep so busy and work so hard that you forget about being afraid.
Although the power is lacking, the will is commendable.
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