Learn that the present hour alone is man's.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of living in the present moment.
Samuel Johnson's quote reminds us that the only time we truly possess is the present. While the past has shaped us and the future holds possibilities, it is in the present moment where we have the agency to act and make choices, highlighting the importance of mindfulness and being fully engaged in our current experiences.
In practice
During a motivational speech about embracing life, one might say, 'As Samuel Johnson said, learn that the present hour alone is man's.'
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.
The same man cannot well be skilled in everything; each has his special excellence.
Don't worry about what the people say; be yourself, say what you want to say WITH respect.
What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness? You only truly, deeply appreciate and are grateful for something when you compare and contrast it to something worse.
Of old the expert in battle would first make himself invincible and then wait for his enemy to expose his vulnerability.
Fools admire, but men of sense approve.
I let go of all expectations. People, places and things are free to be themselves, and I am free to be me.
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