Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; and he may be properly charged with evil who refused to learn how he might prevent it.
Interpretation
Voluntary ignorance is a serious moral failing, and one who chooses not to educate themselves bears responsibility for the consequences.
This quote by Samuel Johnson highlights the moral obligations of individuals to seek knowledge and understanding. It suggests that when people are willfully ignorant, they not only fail to protect themselves but may also cause harm to others. The choice to remain uninformed is likened to a crime, making it crucial for individuals to actively pursue knowledge to prevent ignorance from leading to suffering or injustice.
In practice
A teacher discussing the importance of continuous education in a classroom.
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.
Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God's strength in you.
People only see what they are prepared to see. If you look for what is good and what you can be grateful for you will find it everywhere.
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Some people mistake grit for sheer persistence - charging up the same hill again and again. But that's not quite what I mean by the word 'grit.' You want to minimize friction and find the most effective, most efficient way forward. You might actually have more grit if you treat your energy as a precious commodity.
Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.
The word 'yoga' means skill - skill to live your life, to manage your mind, to deal with your emotions, to be with people, to be in love and not let that love turn into hatred.
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