QuoteProject
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.
Samuel Johnson
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Effort is essential for meaningful work; without it, creation lacks depth and engagement.

Samuel Johnson's quote suggests that the ease with which something is created often reflects the experience of those who engage with it. When a piece of writing or any form of art is produced without genuine effort, it may fail to resonate with its audience, resulting in a lack of pleasure or enjoyment in consuming it. It serves as a reminder that the labor invested into a work contributes significantly to its value and the satisfaction it provides to readers or viewers.

Themes

EffortWritingPleasureArtValue

In practice

Example use cases

During a lecture about the importance of hard work in creative processes.

More from Samuel Johnson

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.
Samuel JohnsonRead
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.
Samuel JohnsonRead
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.
Samuel JohnsonRead
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.
Samuel JohnsonRead
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.
Samuel JohnsonRead
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
Samuel JohnsonRead

Similar quotes

What you do for yourself, any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself, will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you’re doing for others, and what you do for others, you’re doing for yourself.
Pema ChodronRead
The best way to defend the bombers is to catch the enemy before it his in position to attack. Catch them when they are taking off, or when they are climbing, or when they are forming up. Don't think you can defend the bomber by circling around him. It's good for the bombers morale, and bad for tactics.
Robin OldsRead
Do not allow to slip away from you freedoms the people who came before you won with such hard knocks.
D. H. LawrenceRead
Don't condemn if you see a person has a dirty glass of water, just show them the clean glass of water that you have. When they inspect it, you won't have to say that yours is better." -said by Elijah Muhammad to Malcolm X
Malcolm XRead
If you count the sunny and the cloudy days of the whole year, you will find that the sunshine predominates.
OvidRead
Self-publishing provides more freedom and control, but it also provides more risk. Publishing provides more credibility and promotion, but your vision can also get lost in the bureaucratic machinery of the business. It's a tough decision to make.
Mark MansonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Samuel Johnson | QuoteProject