He that is already corrupt is naturally suspicious, and he that becomes suspicious will quickly become corrupt.
Interpretation
Corruption breeds suspicion, and suspicion can lead to further corruption.
This quote by Samuel Johnson highlights the interconnectedness of corruption and suspicion. It suggests that those who are already corrupt tend to view others with suspicion, as their own moral decay leads them to believe that others may also be untrustworthy. Conversely, a mind filled with suspicion can corrupt one's character, leading to an erosion of values and trust in others.
In practice
In a discussion on ethics, one might say, 'As Samuel Johnson observed, corruption often leads to suspicion.', emphasizing the importance of moral integrity.
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.
Speak of a wolf and you see his tail!
We are at heart so profoundly anarchistic that the only form of state we can imagine living in is Utopian; and so cynical that the only Utopia we can believe in is authoritarian.
The ideal of the supreme being is nothing but a regulative principle of reason which directs us to look upon all connection in the world as if it originated from an all-sufficient necessary cause.
there is no shortage of fault to be found amid our stars
There is no such thing as an impartial jury because there are no impartial people. There are people that argue on the web for hours about who their favorite character on 'Friends' is.
Submit to the fate of your own free will.
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