Pension: An allowance made to anyone without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the concept of pensions, suggesting they are rewards for betrayal rather than merit.
Samuel Johnson's quote on pensions reflects a deep skepticism about the nature of rewards given by the state. He implies that pensions are not just compensation for work but rather compensation that can be seen as unjust, particularly when it pertains to individuals whose actions may be viewed as disloyal or treasonous to their country. This perspective invites a broader discussion about the morality of state-sponsored financial support and the implications of rewarding individuals who may not have genuinely served the interests of the public.
In practice
During a lecture on ethics in public service, one might reference Johnson's quote to discuss the morality of government funding.
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.
Eomer said, 'How is a man to judge what to do in such times?' As he has ever judged,' said Aragorn. 'Good and evil have not changed since yesteryear, nor are they one thing among Elves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.
Nevertheless, the central affirmation of the Reformation stands: through no merit of ours, but by his mercy, WE HAVE BEEN RESTORED to a right relationship with God through the life, death, and resurrection of his beloved Son. This is the Good News, the gospel of Grace
I wander though China. Without ever having boarded a plane. My travels take place here in the Tokoyo subways, in the backseat of a taxi... all of a sudden this city will start to go. In a flash, the buildings will crumble. Over the Tokyo streets will fall my China, like ash, leaching into everything it touches. Slowly, gradually, until nothing remains. No, this isn't a place for me.
I am this bundle of what has been, and what has been accomplished.
Security is when everything is settled, when nothing can happen to you; security is the denial of life.
Wars of aggression are popular nowadays with those nations convinced that only victory and conquest could improve their material well-being.
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