Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things to help rid us of our time, which will never return.
Interpretation
Life's length can feel burdensome when we resort to trivial activities to fill our time.
In this quote, Samuel Johnson reflects on the nature of time and existence. He suggests that a long life can become tiresome as individuals engage with insignificant or trivial pursuits to pass the time, indicating a deeper concern about how we spend our finite moments in life and the importance of meaningful engagement.
In practice
During a thoughtful discussion about life choices, one could quote Johnson to emphasize the importance of making meaningful use of our time.
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 can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.
We are completely unaware of our true nature because we identify ourselves with our body, our emotions and our thoughts, thus losing sight of our unchanging centre, which is pure consciousness. When we return to our true nature, our thoughts and perceptions no longer appear as modifications of a single substance, they come into being and subside like waves of the ocean.
Good is a product of the ethical and spiritual artistry of individuals; it cannot be mass-produced.
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Let him be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say? There is no death, only change of worlds.
Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground.
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