Let us take a patriot, where we can meet him; and, that we may not flatter ourselves by false appearances, distinguish those marks which are certain, from those which may deceive; for a man may have the external appearance of a patriot, without the constituent qualities; as false coins have often lustre, though they want weight.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of distinguishing true patriotism from mere appearances.
In this quote, Samuel Johnson reflects on the nature of patriotism and warns against being misled by superficial qualities. Just as a shiny fake coin can appear valuable, a person may present themselves as a patriot without embodying the genuine qualities that define true loyalty and commitment to one's country. This calls for a deeper understanding of values rather than relying solely on outward expressions.
In practice
This quote could be used during a discussion about civic responsibility in a community meeting.
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.
If the Lord counts the natural beauty of the body inferior to that of the soul, what thinks He of spurious beauty, rejecting utterly as He does all falsehood?
Sports is to war as pornography is to sex. We get to exercise some ancient, ancient drives.
We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.
It's a difficult competition against silence, because silence is a perfect language, the only language which says with no words.
She supposed that houses, after all - like the lives that were lived in them - were mostly made of space. It was the spaces, in fact, which counted, rather than the bricks.
I have not seen much dignity in the process by which we die. The quest to achieve true dignity fails when our bodies fail.
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