For sorrow there is no remedy provided by nature; it is often occasioned by accidents irreparable, and dwells upon objects that have lost or changed their existence; it requires what it cannot hope, that the laws of the universe should be repealed; that the dead should return, or the past should be recalled.
Interpretation
Sorrow cannot be remedied by anything in nature, highlighting the permanence of loss and the futility of wishing for the impossible.
This quote by Samuel Johnson reflects on the nature of sorrow, suggesting that it arises from events that cannot be undone, such as the loss of loved ones or cherished moments. Johnson emphasizes that the pain from these changes is a fundamental aspect of human experience, and the desire for impossible remedies, like resurrecting the dead or reversing time, only deepens the struggle against grief.
In practice
In a eulogy to express the permanence of loss during a memorial service.
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.
Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple wavers to the dust.
America is the world's engine but also its conscience. We are the petri dish of diversity and inclusiveness.
Your primary purpose is to be here fully, and to be total in whatever you do so that the preciousness of the present moment does not become reduced to a means to an end. And there you have your life purpose. That's the very foundation of your life.
I don't think there is any such thing as a black writer or a white writer. Ultimately, there is someone whom one reads.
So utterly at variance is Destiny with all the little plans of men.
Do you want to be a man of today or a man of tomorrow?
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