That there is something in advice very useful and salutary, seems to be equally confessed on all hands; since even those that reject it, allow for the most part that rejection to be wrong, but charge the fault upon the unskilful manner in which it is given; they admit the efficacy of the medicine, but abhor the nauseousness of the vehicle.
Interpretation
Advice can be beneficial, yet its delivery often affects how it is received.
This quote by Samuel Johnson highlights the duality of advice; while it is generally recognized as helpful, the way it is presented can lead to rejection. People may agree on the value of the counsel but often criticize its delivery, likening good advice to a beneficial medicine that is unpleasant due to its taste or method of administration.
In practice
During a team meeting, I referenced this quote to emphasize the importance of how we present our suggestions.
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.
Our own self-love draws a thick veil between us and our faults.
I do think it’s only by stopping movement that you can see where to go. And it’s only by stepping out of your life and the world that you can see what you most deeply care about… and find a home.
A person that started in to carry a cat home by the tail was gitting knowledge that was always going to be useful to him, and warn't ever going to grow dim or doubtful.
Self-esteem comes from being able to define the world in your own terms and refusing to abide by the judgments of others.
Who then is free? The wise man who can govern himself.
Knowledge is only potential power.
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