Men are generally idle, and ready to satisfy themselves, and intimidate the industry of others, by calling that impossible which is only difficult.
Interpretation
The quote highlights how people often dismiss challenges as impossible when they are simply difficult, reflecting a tendency towards laziness and discouragement.
Samuel Johnson's quote points to a common human behavior where individuals may resist effort and hard work by labeling challenging tasks as impossible. This mindset not only allows them to avoid personal responsibility but also discourages others from pursuing their ambitions. Instead of confronting difficulties, these individuals prefer to belittle the efforts of others, contributing to a culture of idleness and negativity. The quote serves as a reminder that many things may seem impossible at first, but with determination and effort, they can be achieved.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming challenges.
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.
Within each of us there is a silence as vast as the universe. We long for it. We can return to it.
There is a place where words are born of silence.
There is a strong tendency to get used to and accept very bad things that would be shocking if seen with fresh eyes.
Whatever you think someone else should give to you, you need to be able to give yourself first.
. . . Virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible. These are the tactics we should study. If we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed . . . so long as our manners and principles remain sound, there is no danger.
Itβs funny. I met a man once who did a lot of mountain climbing. I asked him which was harder, ascending or descending? He said without a doubt descending, because ascending you were so focused on reaching the top, you avoided mistakes. The backside of a mountain is a fight against human nature,β he said. βYou have to care as much about yourself on the way down as you did on the way up.
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