When I find that so much of my life has stolen unprofitably away, and that I can descry by retrospection scarcely a few single days properly and vigorously employed, why do I yet try to resolve again? I try, because reformation is necessary and despair is criminal. I try, in humble hope of the help of God.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the necessity of personal reform despite recognizing past failures, emphasizing hope and the importance of seeking divine assistance.
In this quote, Samuel Johnson grapples with the feelings of regret over wasted time in his life and the challenge of reconciling this with the determination to reattempt self-improvement. He conveys that while the past is often filled with unproductive days, the drive to reform oneself is essential and should be pursued, with faith in divine support providing strength to overcome despair.
In practice
During a motivational speech, one might quote this to encourage people to reflect on their life choices and the importance of change.
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.
Life is like writing with a pen. You can cross out your past but you can't erase it.
I have found life an enjoyable, enchanting, active, and sometime terrifying experience, and I've enjoyed it completely. A lament in one ear, maybe, but always a song in the other.
No one asked me to be an actor, so no one owed me. There was no entitlement.
I join the March for Life in Washington with my prayers. May God help us respect all life, especially the most vulnerable.
When I was going through my transition of being famous, I tried to ask God, why was I here? What was my purpose? Surely, it wasn't just to win three gold medals. There has to be more to this life than that.
When something enters your life that is so big and so non-negotiable as catastrophic illness, you either go in denial for a while or ultimately you accept it and you make space for it. And in making space for it, you illuminate a lot of things that you normally don't have room for you simply just look at the world differently.
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